Yuugiou! Episode Nine and Three Quarters SE
by Skyla Doragono
Summary: Year One at Hogwarts revised edition. Yuugi goes to Hogwarts, where old enemies become friends, new friends are made, and a new destiny is revealed...
1. The Owl

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters **

**CHAPTER ONE – THE OWL**

Leather pants: check. Light blue sleeveless shirt: check. Boots: check. Collar: check. Various bracelets, armbands, belts, and other baubles: check. Millennium Puzzle…

…Millennium Puzzle…

Yuugi Mutou paused in his inventory check, whirling around to his study desk, where he normally kept his precious Puzzle on the rare occasion he was not wearing it. There was a rather noticeable gap where it was supposed to be that sent the young teen from Domino High School running about his room, checking every dark space and every pile of junk. After about a half hour of searching he plunked down in the middle of the floor, eyes wider than normal.

"_Where is it!" _he exclaimed, trying not to panic… well, any more than he was already.

His frantic scrambling must have been louder than he thought, for his mother entered the room a moment later. She cocked a confused eyebrow at him, tilting her head to the side.

"Yuugi… what _are _you doing…?" she asked… only to be nearly tackled by her son as he sprang up, grabbing onto her.

"'Kaa-san! Have you seen my Puzzle? Please tell me you've see it!" he exclaimed, frantic.

His mother sweatdropped, shaking her head in exasperation… before holding up the golden, upside-down-pyramid-shaped pendant.

"This Puzzle?"

Yuugi sprang up, snatching the Puzzle back and practically cuddling it. "Why did you have it?"

"You asked me to give it to your grandfather to have the chain fixed, remember?" she deadpanned. "And I cleaned it up while I had it; Yuugi, that thing was filthy. Try to take better care of it."

She gave him a soft smile before she left, and Yuugi looked down at the Puzzle in his hands, noticing that it did seem a bit shinier than usual. He shrugged – what did it matter as long as it was in one piece? – and slipped the chain around his neck, turning his thoughts inward as he cleaned up after his mad scrambling a little bit.

While his body moved, his consciousness found itself in his Soul Room, a bright and cheerful room filled with toys that reflected his inner innocence. He bounced up from the floor, opening the door and revealing a hall separating the way to the _other _door in his soul. This door seemed to be covered in vines, as if anchoring it to him by means that were not normal. The door itself was made of stone, with a golden eye design, same as the one the Puzzle bore.

Yuugi grinned privately, reaching up and knocking on the door… and frowned when he did not get an answer.

"Mou hitori no boku…?" he asked, pushing the door open gently… only to be hit in the face with an overpowering smell of bleach. Yuugi crinkled his nose in disgust, trying not to gag as he set foot into the other Soul Room… only to be dragged out a moment later by a taller, older looking version of himself.

"Gah!" his other gasped. "I'm never going to get that smell out!"

Yuugi blinked, perplexed, before he started giggling uncontrollably. His other sweatdropped.

"I'm glad you find it funny…" he said dryly, rolling his eyes as that only sent Yuugi into a fresh case of the giggles.

"I-I'm sorry, mou hitori no boku," he finally said after a moment, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "I didn't think she'd clean the Puzzle, not to mention with bleach…"

Yuugi grinned up at his other as the older man shook his head, amused. His other… the spirit of a three thousand year old pharaoh, preserved through the magic of the Millennium Puzzle as well as and other forces, as they had found out just recently. Yuugi and his companions had gotten trapped in a role-playing Game of Darkness, playing out the events of ancient times, of when his other was pharaoh and the conflicts that ultimately led to his death. Now, though… now that they knew who the man that had become his closest and first friend over the years was…

"Ahh… Atemu-kun…" Yuugi began, using the pharaoh's real name, "I'm… uhh… I'm gonna talk to 'Jii-chan… ask him if we can go to Egypt… so…"

The pharaoh smiled gently, though his eyes were sad as he reached a hand out, resting it on Yuugi's shoulder.

"I understand, aibou," he said softly. "Thank you."

Yuugi sighed softly, standing up in the real world and dusting his hands off, having returned a pile of dirty laundry to its proper place.

_It's not fair… _he thought to himself as he started toward the kitchen for breakfast. _Why… do I have to kill my own friend all over again…?_

He ate his cornflakes in silence, staring off at nothing and everything at once. He did not know for sure what would happen when they reached Egypt, just that he knew he would have to lay Atemu to rest. The thought did not sit well with him. After everything that happened, was the pharaoh not entitled to have his own life? It just did not seem very fair to him… they beat the monsters, the demons, the evil gods… and that was it? Death? Some reward…

Yuugi got up, depositing his empty bowl in the sink, hardly remembering when he ate the contents. If it was something he would have to do… well, he supposed he did not have a choice. He would just have to prepare himself ahead of time; he could not have second thoughts when the time came…

He bounded down the stairs with his usual amount of energy a moment later, down to where the main part of the Kame Game Shop was. His grandfather was behind the counter as always… only he was reading something on a strange looking sheet of paper. It was brown and rough, almost like parchment…

"Morning, 'Jii-chan!" he called, and Sugoroku Mutou looked up, folding the parchment and stuffing it away, trying to conceal the troubled look on his face with a smile.

"Ah, Yuugi-kun," he began, "going out with your friends today?"

Yuugi mentally frowned; was his grandfather trying to hide something from him? Why would he… he had no reason to…

"Yeah," he said, deciding to ignore it for now. He knew his grandfather would tell him when he was ready. "We're going to hang out at the arcade; there's only a little more than a month before school starts again, so…"

Sugoroku smiled, chuckling softly. "Understood, but tomorrow you're helping me here at the shop."

"Okay!" Yuugi exclaimed, already starting on his way out, before he stopped. "Uh… 'Jii-chan, can I…?" He faltered, biting his lip. Oh… he could not do this right now… "Never mind; I'll talk to you later! Bye!"

Sugoroku waved to his grandson until he left the store and was out of sight… before the troubled look returned to his face. He reached back under the counter, pulling out the parchment he had been reading. His eyes scanned over it again and again, but the message still did not change, no matter how much he wanted it to.

"Dumbledore, what are you plotting…?" he murmured softly…

-.oOOo.-

Yuugi bounded into the arcade, all thoughts of what his grandfather may have been hiding and thoughts of loosing his other half gone for the moment as he was surrounded by the beeps and whistles of the machines around him. He headed straight for the back of the room, where he knew his friends would be… and was surprised to find the atmosphere rather grim. Ryou Bakura was there, shaking his head sadly, as Katsuya Jounouchi nursed a rather large bruise on his face.

Eyes widening, Yuugi went right over to his best friend, looking at the damage. "What happened, Jounouchi-kun?"

"Kaiba happened," Hiroto Honda explained, returning with a pack of ice. He tossed it to the blonde, who immediately slapped it on over the bruise.

"It was his own fault," Anzu Mazaki, the only girl of the group, huffed. "It's what he gets for sending out prank letters."

"How many times do I have to say it?" Jounouchi exclaimed. "I'm not the one that sent them out! Blame some other whacko!"

Yuugi blinked. "What letters?"

Ryou held up an envelope and letter… both made of the same material as the note Yuugi's grandfather had been reading before he left the Game Shop. He frowned, reaching for both; they apparently had been Ryou's, for the envelope bore his address… in a very odd manner:

Mr. R. Bakura  
The Only Bedroom in the Apartment  
54 Ringmaster Drive, Apt 601  
Domino City  
Japan

Yuugi blinked; well, that was certainly odd… but what made it even more so was the metallic green lettering: neat and precise _English _words.

"I already know Jounouchi didn't do this," he announced. "I mean… you guys didn't see his last score in English…"

"Thanks a lot, Yuugi-kun," Jounouchi grumbled.

He grinned encouragingly at his best friend, moving on to the letter that had been included:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL  
_of _WITCHCRAFT _and _WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Mr. Bakura,  
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts  
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary  
books and equipment.  
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,  
_Minerva McGonagall_

Minerva McGonagall,  
_Deputy Headmistress_

_PS: We are aware that you are older than the standard age for  
first years, but you will have to start out at year one regardless. We  
apologize in advance._

Yuugi blinked, looking over the included list of equipment: a wand, a cauldron, books with strange titles… He shook his head after a moment.

"Now I _know _Jounouchi-kun definitely didn't do this," he stated.

"Thanks," Jounouchi replied dryly, waving off in the general direction of the entrance. "Now go tell Kaiba that."

Yuugi shook his head again, giving his friend an encouraging pat. "Oh, don't worry about it, Jounouchi-kun."

"Yeah, we've got more important things to worry about," Honda agreed. "Like getting to Egypt and stuff."

Yuugi grew quiet at that, and Anzu clunked Honda over the head with her purse, admonishing him for bringing it up. Ryou gave Yuugi a sympathetic look, and unconscious hand coming up to grab something around his neck… that was not there. He grimaced slightly, lowering his hand.

"I know how you feel, Yuugi-kun," he said softly. "'What will it be like without the other me?' I used to think that all the time, but now that he's gone…" He shook his head. "I know he said he was Zork, and I know he was evil… but I can't help but wonder if the other me was possessed like he possessed me. I can't help but think… that it wasn't really his fault."

"Not his fault?" Honda echoed. "Bakura-kun, the other you was _crazy. _ He wanted to take over Mokuba's body, for Christ sake!"

"Honda!" Anzu shouted, whacking him over the head again, bending his only spike of hair. Ryou rolled his eyes, amused, and Yuugi just smiled as brightly as he could.

"Guys, it's okay. If… it's something I have to do… then I'll do it," he said… before adding mentally…

_What other choice do I have…?_

-.oOOo.-

Yuugi came home late that night, entering through the back door as the store was closed. Him and his friends had enjoyed a long day together, ending with supper at Burger World. He yawned, making his way upstairs to the living area of the house. The lights were out… save for the one in the kitchen. Not overly concerned about it, he started for the bathroom to shower and get ready for bed.

"Yuugi-kun?" came his grandfather's voice, making him stop.

"'Jii-chan?" he asked, heading for the kitchen. Sugoroku was sitting at the table, his hands folded before him. He looked up at Yuugi as he entered, before nodding toward a parchment envelope resting innocently on the table.

Mr. Y. Mutou  
The Bedroom Next to the Stairs  
Kame Game Shop  
Domino City  
Japan

Yuugi blinked in surprise, picking it up and turning it over in his hands. It felt a bit heavy, obviously from the folded pieces of parchment inside. On the back was an old-fashioned wax seal, with four animals surrounding an English "H".

"Ryou and Kaiba got one of these too," Yuugi said, frowning slightly at the look on his grandfather's face. "Do you know about it?"

Sugoroku nodded solemnly. "When I was younger than you, my parents traveled about quite a bit. We were in London for a few months when I received my letter; it helped us decide where to live for a while. I attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"So you're a wizard?" Yuugi asked, eyes wide as he tried to process that.

"No, not really," Sugoroku replied, smiling. "I was expelled in my fifth year; too involved with games than my studies."

Yuugi sweatdropped; why was he not surprised?

"In all seriousness," Sugoroku continued, his expression reflecting the gravity of what he had to say, "I kept in touch with some of my friends that I had at school. One of those… is Albus Dumbledore." He reached out, tapping the letter in Yuugi's hands. "The current headmaster of the school."

"So… why am I being invited to a school in London?" he asked, setting the envelope down.

"It has a lot to do with the Puzzle," Sugoroku admitted, leaning back. "And… why I can't let you go to Egypt."

It was rather subtle; if the Puzzle had not shone slightly, he probably would not have noticed. Either way, Sugoroku nodded respectfully, acknowledging the pharaoh's presence in place of his grandson's.

"I have a felling I want to hear this personally," Atemu began. "Why do you not wish for me to rest?"

Sugoroku sighed softly. "Personally? For a number of reasons; you may not notice, but it has been eating away at Yuugi. He says he knows that it's something that has to be done… but I know it won't be easy for him to accept it."

Atemu nodded solemnly; he was not blind… he knew it would hurt Yugi. However, he knew that hurt would help Yugi grow into a man. He knew he was a strong young man, someone that would surpass him one day, and maybe one day soon. If he was not allowed to rest, though…

"I might hold him back if I stay," he said aloud.

"You don't know that for sure," Sugoroku said. "You give him strength, support him; a pillar that he can stand on, as the priests of the past did for you." He sighed softly. "Also… Dumbledore does not wish for you to rest, not yet."

Atemu raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Sugoroku shook his head. "Dumbledore works in strange ways. He's a brilliant man though, if a little odd. It was because of him…" He reached over, poking the Puzzle in the center. "That I found out about you."

Atemu frowned, tilting his head to the side. "You told Yuugi that you found me because you were seeking out a challenge."

"Yes, of course, but someone had to have told me about the greatest secret hidden under the sands of the desert," Sugoroku replied, amused. "Dumbledore approached me one day, told me about a great magical treasure hidden in what turned out to be your tomb. As you know, I headed out almost immediately with two other men that knew the desert."

Sugoroku paused a moment to sigh, thinking carefully before continuing, "When I returned to my hotel in Cairo, Dumbledore was there, explaining the apparition of you I had seen, and how your conflicts would need to be resolved."

"So… Dumbledore knew about me?" Atemu asked, curious. "Why didn't he try to help when we were going around trying to figure out who I was?"

"He knew _of _you," Sugoroku corrected. "He really knew about as much of you as we did; you could have been an important royal janitor for all we knew when you appeared."

Atemu snorted, shaking his head in amusement.

"Pharaoh," Sugoroku began again, his tone serious once more. "I don't know why Dumbledore still wants you around. But… I trust his judgment. If he wants you to stay around… it would be for a good reason."

Atemu gave him a serious look in turn. Still remaining alive… well, he could not say he was disappointed at the thought of still living, but his destiny was almost fulfilled. What it came down to was whether or not he was ready to pass on…

"I'll have to think about it," he said softly. "And talk with Yuugi as well."

-.oOOo.-

Yuugi found himself looking up at the arrival and departure board at the Domino International Airport, feeling a bit overwhelmed. His plane was supposed to show soon, but he still felt a little edgy about it. This was his first time out of country, and alone to boot, going to a strange place under even stranger circumstances.

"No pressu— ack!"

Yuugi stumbled slightly, nearly loosing his grip on the small travel bag he had kept on him, the small tinkling of metal coming from within. He turned around, catching a flash of white hair.

"Bakura-kun?" he asked, eyes widening in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Uhh…" Ryou began, "well… 'ya know, I've got some relatives… and… umm…"

Yuugi raised an eyebrow in amusement. "The school is real, you know."

"Oh, I know," Ryou replied quickly, shuffling his feet. "I know! I'm… just… uhh…"

"Wanna sit together on the plane?" Yuugi cut his stammering off, grinning. The other boy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"S-sure…"


	2. Reunions

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

Some things worthy of note in this new chapter two: most of them revolving around names. Since the general consensus supports this, I'm calling Marik "Malik". I'm bending over for you people, kindly don't kick me in the ass (I still say it's Marik though). Also, I've found out recently (by watching the Egypt arc), that when they say "Ishizu", they _mean _Ishizu, and not Isis with a strong Japanese accent. Scary that the dub got that right.

A lot of you have had _many _questions, and most of them are answerable by just hanging in there and reading onward. This chapter addresses most of the questions asked. Also, I'm very glad that the majority of people seem to be supporting of the rewrite. I'll admit, I was afraid I was going to get hunted down with pitchforks.

I'm trying to get out at least a chapter a day. It's farely easy, as the story's already written... I just need to fix it. XP

And I'm finding that the editor on here doesn't like an exclamation point and a question mark together... what the heck... -.-

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO – REUNIONS**

To say that Yuugi and Ryou felt overwhelmed when they stepped into the Leaky Cauldron pub was a rather gross understatement. Their trip so far had been rather uneventful, though Ryou had been fidgety and distracted ever since he bumped into Yuugi at the airport, which made the shorter boy more than a little suspicious. Ryou was used to living alone… why would a simple little trip bother him?

Right now, though, he could understand why he was feeling unnerved. It had taken awhile to find the dark pub that they were currently standing in, mostly because anyone they asked on the streets of London had no clue as to what they were talking about. Even when they finally found the place, people seemed to pass by it, like the shabby building did not even exist. Now, though, Yuugi was kind of hoping they passed by it too. There were people of every size and shape imaginable – he could only assume they were all wizards and witches – all dressed in brilliant cloaks, talking softly amongst themselves. Some eyed the two boys as they passed them on their way to the counter, and Yuugi caught a few of them wondering what magic he used to keep his hair like it was.

The two of them went up to the bartender, an old man that Sugoroku had apparently been friends with when they were younger. He more than happily led them up to the rooms they would be staying in until they needed to leave for King's Cross Station on the first of September to get to school. After they had dropped off their belongings, he took them to the back of the pub, where there was nothing more than a garbage can and a solid brick wall.

Ryou and Yuugi exchanged perplexed expressions as the bartender took out his wand and tapped it against a specific brick in the wall three times. The brick shuddered and quivered… before sliding away, other bricks starting to follow it until a massive archway was revealed, with the words "Diagon Alley" in faded English above them.

"There you are, lads," the bartender announced as the two of them stepped into the area that had appeared numbly. "Everything you'll need for school is in here."

After being assured that they would not need help, Yuugi and Ryou went off into the Alley alone, heading down the winding cobbled street as best they could, passing by witches and wizards of all sorts. There were so many shops; shops selling wands, brooms, cauldrons, assorted animals… The boys wandered down the street, trying to look in all directions at once and only succeeding in bumping into a group of witches.

"Sorry, sorry!" Yuugi apologized quickly, bowing sheepishly, before turning to Ryou. "'Jii-chan said we had to get 'wizard money' first before we could get our supplies. We'll know the bank when we see it, supposedly; it's the most noticeable building…"

"You mean that?" Ryou asked, pointing to a large, crooked building standing stark white against the clear blue sky. Yuugi's eyes widened.

"Yeah… I think that's noticeable enough."

They made their way to the large white double doors of the building, and were bowed inside by two goblin sentries. Within there was another set of silver doors, with a warning inscribed on them:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed  
Of what awaits the sin of greed,  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay most dearly in their turn.  
So if you seek beneath our floors  
A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more than treasure there._

Yuugi grinned at Ryou as they pushed the doors open. "Why do I get the feeling the other Bakura would be excited about this place?" he asked, giggling slightly.

Ryou just shifted, laughing nervously. "Uh… y-yeah…"

Yuugi frowned. "Bakura-kun, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered quickly, starting into the room. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Yuugi gave his back a distrustful look, but followed him into the bank anyway. There were two long lines of high tables that extended far into the back of the room, with goblins on the other side, counting out gold, silver, and bronze coins or measuring and examining precious stones. They went up to an area of the counter marked Foreign Exchange, and even Ryou had to stand up on his toes to reach the top of the table.

"Um… excuse us, but we need to have our yen exchanged for wizard money," he said nervously, gulping when the goblin looked up at him with a piercing stare.

"Bring it here," the goblin ordered, snatching the money when Ryou set it down. He counted it out, before handing him a bag full of the gold, silver, and bronze coins. "Next."

Yuugi put his money up on the counter as the goblin quickly explained the currency. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Gold Galleon, and twenty-nine bronze Knuts to a Sickle. Not that hard to figure out," the goblin said stiffly. "Now, away with yeh," he added, waving them off and giving Ryou's back a particularly nasty glare.

"He wasn't very nice…" Yuugi murmured once they were out of the bank.

"No, not very nice at all…" Ryou replied nonchalantly, as if it did not bother him that much.

Yuugi shifted on his feet nervously. "Well… hey! Why don't we go g—"

He cut himself off; normally he probably would not have even noticed the voices if everyone around him were not speaking English. The Arabic words stood out in the crowd of murmurings like a sore thumb, and Yuugi searched around, whipping his head about. He knew those voices…

Finally he saw them, or at least one of them, but he knew the other was close by. The tall, mostly shaved man stood out in the crowd, even though he was slightly bent over, looking at some supplies at the Apothecary…

"Rishid!" Yuugi called out, heading over to them. "Malik!"

The boy next to the tall man straightened as Yuugi came out of the crowd, turning around so he could see lavender eyes widen in surprise. Malik Ishtar had not changed much since Yuugi had last seen the Egyptian boy. He grinned broadly, dusting his hands off on his light gray vest before going over and giving the excited Japanese boy a hug.

"What are you doing here?" Yuugi asked as Ryou joined them a moment later. "I thought you went back to Egypt with your sister."

"I did," Malik replied, "but I got an invitation to a school here not all that long ago. Ishizu suggested I accept it; she said it might be a good idea. What are you doing here? I thought you would have… well, you know…"

He nodded toward the Puzzle hanging innocently around Yuugi's neck. The smaller boy rested a hand on it, explaining everything his grandfather had told him and his other self. Malik raised an eyebrow as he finished, concern evident on his face.

"But, if the pharaoh has his memories, he should rest," he protested. "Some foreigner has no right to tell him otherwise and not say why."

"I know, I understand that," Yuugi replied, shifting his feet. "But… well, 'Jii-chan trusts him, and I trust 'Jii-chan. If he says it's a good idea for the other me to still be around… then it must be for a good reason."

"I hope you're right…" Malik murmured, running a hand through his hair. "Hey, have you guys gotten your wands yet? Want to go?"

Yuugi and Ryou nodded enthusiastically, and the four of them started off, Rishid acting as the stoic bodyguard behind them. They talked idly as they went along, catching up on what they had been doing in the few months they had been apart.

"It's a relief that you guys got out of that 'Memory RPG' safely," Malik said as they arrived at the wand shop (Ollivanders, Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC). "I've never even heard of that Zork… thing. I guess knowledge of it was hidden along with everything else."

"Well, you didn't even know that Kuru Eruna existed, did you?" Ryou asked as they entered, sounding a bit terse. Malik and Yuugi looked to him, confused by his tone, but they did not have the opportunity to ask him, as the proprietor of the shop appeared behind a dusty old shelf.

The three boys crammed into the shop, Rishid standing in a sentinel position outside. The store was crammed with as many long, thin boxes as possible, and Yuugi could only surmise that they all contained wands. The owner of the shop hobbled over to them, wide pale eyes observing each of them, before his mouth cracked into a thin smile.

"Ah yes, ah yes," the old man said. "The other three foreign students. Ah yes, ah yes…"

"Excuse me…" Malik began, _"other _three?"

"Ah yes," the owner said, shuffling over to a desk and pulling out a tape measurer. "There was another young man. Tall. Bit of a prat."

The three of them exchanged looks; sounded like Kaiba. The old man held up the measurer, approaching them again.

"The youngest may go first," he said. Yuugi sweatdropped as Ryou and Malik stifled laughs.

"We're all the same age," Yuugi corrected, nudging the two of them as he stepped forward. "What do I have to do?"

"Hold up your wand arm, young sir."

Yuugi could only assume he meant the arm attached to his dominant hand, and held up his right arm for the man. He measured his arm, explaining about the wands and the various magical substances that were used to make them: unicorn hair, dragon heartstring, and phoenix tail feathers. The man was going on about how no two wands were the same, when Yuugi realized that he was not using the measurer anymore… it was measuring all on it's own. Blinking, he reached over and poked the measurer… and sweatdropped as it measured across the tip of his finger.

The storeowner turned, holding one of the many thin boxes. He grabbed the tape measurer, tossing it onto the desk, where it stayed completely still as a normal measurer would.

"Here you are," he said, opening up the box to reveal a wand. It just seemed like a plain stick of wood; nothing like Yuugi imagined. "Beech wood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Go on and give it a wave."

Apparently, the wand did not like him, because as soon as Yuugi waved the wand, a shelf full of wands went flying. All three boys jumped back in shock, though the owner did not seem largely surprised. He gave Yuugi another wand… and another… and another… A few minutes later, the wands had piled up, and he was yet to try a wand that worked for him. Malik and Ryou had decided to sit down on a few chairs that were tucked away in a corner, both of whom looked rather bored. The storeowner, however, was rather excited.

"Ohhh… tricky customer, eh? Tricky customer…" he murmured, hobbling over to the far back of the store. He came out a moment later with a dusty old case, opening it up to reveal a wand different from the others. It was not wooden, but made of gold, with a handle wrapped with black leather.

"Gold and dragon heartstring, nine inches," he explained. "It's an old wand, one of the last of those made by Ancient Egyptian wand makers. Since you're so picky, we may as well try the exotic wands…"

Yuugi blinked in surprise, reaching for the wand. As soon as he touched it, however… deep warmth filled his very soul. He waved the wand, and red and gold sparks shot out, flying around the busted up shop. His eyes were wide as the sparks died down, and there was a satisfied look on the owner's face.

"Does that mean he finally found one?" Malik deadpanned. Yuugi turned, just as Ryou snorted awake, rubbing his eyes and sitting up, having slumped back against the Egyptian boy.

"S'it my turn yet…?"

-.oOOo.-

After finally being able to get their wands (Malik ended up with a "Ebony and phoenix feather, eleven inches, quite springy", and Ryou was chosen by a "Mahogany and unicorn hair, seven inches, pliable"), they finished up the rest of their shopping around Diagon Alley, before going back for a meal at the Leaky Cauldron. As they went to go back up to their rooms, Ryou stopped, fidgeting slightly.

"Um… there's something back in the Alley I wanna see real fast, okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure, Bakura-kun," Yuugi replied, blinking as he went to the back of the pub. Both Rishid and Malik eyed him, the former frowning slightly.

"There doesn't seem something right about him…" Rishid murmured.

"Yeah…" Malik agreed as they headed up the stairs. "Bakura-kun was a little loopy with the tomb robber around, but now it seems like it got worse instead of better."

Yuugi shook his head. "I guess he's just nervous about being here. From how I understand it, it's his first time out of Japan."

"Yeah, probably," Malik said as they arrived at the door to the short boy's room. He peeked his head inside, sweatdropping at all the luggage. "Did you bring your whole room with you?"

Yuugi laughed. "Just the really important stuff. Like… 'ya know, my clothes… the Millennium Items…"

Both Malik and Rishid looked at him like he grew another head. "You _what?"_

"Take it easy…!" Yuugi hissed, wincing as he waved them into the room. "Don't worry, I've had them in a very unnoticeable bag," he continued, kneeling a bit and pulling the carry-on bag he had on the plane from under the bed. "I kept them in something small enough so I could carry them on the plane. See?"

He plopped the bag down on the bed with a clack of metal and unzipped it. There they were inside: the Millennium Rod, Eye, Scales, Tauk, Ankh…

"Where's the Ring…?" Malik asked, eyes widening.

Yuugi's eyes widened too. The two of them looked up from the bag, exchanging looks…

"Bakura!" they both exclaimed at the same time, bolting past Rishid and out of the room. They bounded down the stairs, Malik taking them two at a time, and running for Diagon Alley entrance.

"Oohhh…!" Yuugi moaned. "I should have known something was up, with the way he's been acting. What was he _thinking?"_

"I'm guessing he wasn't," Malik replied as they entered the Alley, looking around, trying to spot a familiar head of white hair.

They split up, looking around the Alley frantically. After a half hour of searching, however, they met back up at the plaza where the bank stood, empty-handed. Yuugi shifted from foot to foot, worried and anxious all at the same time.

"Oh, man…" he muttered, starting back toward the pub with Malik. "What are we going to do? What if Zork is still in there? What if…? What if…?"

"Yuugi-kun, don't panic," Malik said as they started up the steps back into the establishment. "What's the worse that could hap—"

"_BARKEEP! KEEP THEM RARE STEAKS COMIN'!"_

Both boys stopped dead in their tracks, staring a bit wide-eyed at the individual sitting in a seat before them. It looked like Ryou. It sounded a bit like Ryou, though the voice was a bit deeper and louder. It certainly _was not _Ryou, however, as the young man stuffed a very bloody piece of steak in his mouth, washing it down with what looked like some kind of ale.

"Oh… this is… cute…" Malik muttered… just as the Puzzle shone a bit and Yuugi suddenly grew a few inches. Atemu sighed, shaking his head as he approached the person from behind.

"Tomb robber… _what _are you doing…?"

The tomb robber, the thief king, the spirit of the Ring; the person otherwise known as Bakura turned slightly to look up at him, a bit of a red tinge in his cheeks from hitting the ale a little too hard.

"Wuzzit look like I'm doing, your highness-ness?" he replied, stuffing some more steak in his mouth.

Atemu glanced around, noting that none of the other patrons in the pub were sitting anywhere near Bakura.

"Driving the customers away would be my guess," he replied. The tomb robber just waved a dismissive hand.

"They'll get over it. I'm starved," he replied, finishing off the steak just as the bartender came running out with another slab. Atemu sweatdropped as it was plopped on his plate, a bit of blood splattering onto the table.

"You know, you're going to make Bakura-kun sick," he pointed out.

Bakura shook his head. "Pft, are you kidding? That runt'll just shit it all out, then stuff his face with creampuffs and bananas. Trust me, he did it all the time before." He took another swig of the ale, before turning around to face Atemu fully. "And… what exactly are you going to do about it, anyway? What, only the good little hero's that didn't have evil gods whispering in their heads get to play out in the sun?"

"So you were possessed?" the pharaoh asked, blinking.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "No, I just felt like carrying out the will of an evil god with a dragon dick. What the fuck do you think!"

"All right… take it easy…" Malik said, sidling over and slipping the ale out of Bakura's hands. The tomb robber rolled his eyes as the three of them sat down, shoving a good mouthful of steak into his mouth again, almost not bothering with the fork.

"Just what happened exactly?" the Egyptian boy continued, as the others in the pub seemed to go back to their business. At least no one was staring at the three of them any more.

"Like I said," Bakura said, before swallowing. "I was possessed. 'Prolly happened around when the village was destroyed, I dunno. I don't even remember much from around that time." He forked a thumb at Atemu. "His highness-ness isn't the only one with memory problems. Problem is, with everything that happened recently, I got the joy of remembering every single fucking thing that ass wipe of a god made me do, and no, I'm not proud of most of it."

"But, how can you even still be here?" Atemu asked. "In the Memory RPG… when you turned to dust, I assume that's when you died."

Bakura grimaced at the memory. "Oh, yeah, I remember that," he snarled, stabbing his steak with his fork. "Right at the moment of my success, right when I had you in my grasp, that stupid fucking priest of yours comes up and stabs me in the back." He sat back, glowering at Atemu. "Obviously the Memory Game wasn't a complete recollection of our past. Mr. Dragon Dick had to make it into a game; had to make it into that one last stab at your pride. When I died, it was as the last sacrifice of Kuru Eruna; stabbed in the back, my blood binding the Millennium Items together and awakening Zork."

Malik blinked slowly, trying to absorb all that information. "So… that was the whole point of the Millennium Items? To bring an evil god to this world?"

"Close enough," Bakura replied idly, taking his fork with a bit of meat clinging to it and twirling it. "They create a portal into the Shadows, where the monsters live, and where god is hidden. Obviously that wasn't a real god, just god's avatar, just like Osiris, Obelisk, and Ra are avatars of god. Ra sure as fucking hell isn't a big gold dragon."

Atemu's eyes widened in alarm. "So Zork is still alive?"

"Oh, of course, your worship," Bakura sneered, "but his power's gone, kaput, nadda, zero. Maybe if he's lucky they'll recharge in oh… fifteen thousand years or so. I don't know about you, but I plan to be dead by then."

Atemu and Malik exchanged looks, the latter finally shrugging after a moment before asking, "So what do you plan on doing now?"

"Now?" Bakura asked, grinning as he stuffed the meat in his mouth. "I plan on having a life, maybe wreak a little havoc here and there, and basically have a good time." He held up a hand as Atemu tried to protest. "And if you got a problem with that, bitch at my landlord. He was stupid enough to put the Ring on again."


	3. Hogwarts

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

Gah! I know I promised a chapter a day, but I had a very... nerve-wracking weekend, on top of work and on top of being unable to concentrate because of said weekend. I'm sorry about the long delay; believe me when I say it wasn't intentional.

A few people have been asking me questions I already covered in my author's note on Key of Light. Please read that, don't ask questions I already answered on there... And... geeze, I'm surprised people don't know what the pairing is gonna be. I said it would be my favorite... XP

EDIT: Fixed the typo of Ron's last name. Like you've never spelled their last name wrong. XP!

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE – HOGWARTS**

The following few days were… certainly eventful, to say the least. Atemu had taken on the responsibility of looking after Bakura and, considering the tomb robber had insisted on learning everything he possibly could about the world that his "landlord" was entering, that meant the pharaoh was present more often than Yuugi was. More often then not, he was found looking especially disheveled, dragging the tomb robber back into the Leaky Cauldron after trying to avoid one or two angry store clerks.

It was a relief when September 1st came around, and Malik, Yuugi, Ryou, and Rishid all piled into a taxi that would take them to King's Cross Station. Rishid was up in the front with the driver, and the three younger boys were crammed in the back, looking over their tickets.

"Platform nine and three quarters…" Ryou murmured, turning the ticket in his hands. "That doesn't sound like a real platform."

"I know," Yuugi replied. "'Jii-chan said something about there being a hidden portal in the divider between platforms nine and ten…"

"_In _the divider?" Malik asked. "Does he expect us to run into a wall?"

"I guess so…"

Malik smacked the palm of his hand to his forehead.

Though, when they did finally arrive at the train station, there was not anything that would prove Yuugi's grandfather wrong that any of them could see. They stared at the divider they were supposed to run into, perplexed, holding up their trolleys full of their luggage. Run into a brick wall… Malik looked a bit squeamish at the thought. The fact that Rishid was giving the bricks a distrusting look did not help.

Suddenly, Ryou's face broke out into a very un-Ryou-like sneer.

"Wusses," Bakura said, grabbing his trolley and plowing right for the wall. Both Malik and Yuugi winced, covering their eyes… but when they did not hear a crash, they looked back…

Bakura was gone.

"I… guess it really does work…" Yuugi muttered. After a moment, he gripped his trolley, much like the tomb robber had done, and barreled toward the barrier. Malik must have blinked, because before he knew it, the short Japanese boy had disappeared.

Malik looked up at Rishid, a bit of a sheepish look on his face. "I guess this is good bye for the year. Take care of my sister for me."

"Of course," Rishid replied. "Take care of yourself, Lord Malik."

He flashed the older man a smile, before grabbing his trolley and barreling toward the divider. A _whoosh_ing sound filled his ears, and he found himself staring at a gigantic, old fashion steam train. Malik's eyes widened, taking in the massive scarlet vehicle before him, the wizards and witches of all ages around them, and the giant sign above them labeled "Hogwarts Express", before realizing that Bakura was trying to get his attention.

"Yo, welcome back to earth, Gravekeeper," he sneered.

Malik frowned, before looking over to Yuugi. "Can we hang the Ring outside the window while the train's moving?"

-.oOOo.-

Atemu had been forced to take over Yuugi's body early into the trip. Bakura had snuck away into the back of the train, where the snack trolleys were kept. He had opened up something called a chocolate frog; it was not a real frog of course, but it was enchanted to act like one. Atemu was lucky enough to catch him before he let the rest of the treats loose on the train.

"Tight ass…" the tomb robber grumbled as the pharaoh made him sit. Malik hid his face in his hand, trying not to crack up as the pharaoh plopped down, giving Bakura an annoyed look.

"You're going to get Ryou in trouble before we're even at the damn school," he admonished.

"You can't get in trouble if you don't get caught," Bakura shot back, he usual annoying sneer on his face. He reached up, fingering the right side of his face out of habit… before he grimaced, realizing the scar that had been there in ancient times was not there anymore. "Dammit… I wonder if Ryou likes scars."

"Don't you dare!" Atemu exclaimed as Malik busted out laughing.

"What? It's my body," Bakura replied, knowing he was getting under the pharaoh's skin and loving every moment of it.

"It was Bakura-kun's body first," the pharaoh shot back. "It would still be just _his _body too if you weren't around."

Bakura grinned cockily. "What can I say? I guess he just couldn't live without my manly charm."

Malik looked like he was going to start demonstrating that "ROFL" acronym Yuugi was so fond of using when he was online. A few minutes later, the Egyptian's laughter had dulled down to an amused grin, and Atemu was still glaring daggers at the tomb robber. Bakura did not care; he was finding his reaction to his continued existence extremely entertaining, though his staring was getting a bit annoying. He could fix _that _though…

"You know, if you think I'm sexy, just say so, don't keep staring."

Malik damn near fell out of his seat, clutching his stomach, howling with laughter as Atemu's face mutated from surprised to shocked to horrified before finally settling on outright pissed off. He leapt to his feet and grabbed the tomb robber by his shirt in one swift and smooth motion, raising a fist to beat the ever-living crap out of him. Fortunately, before he could deliver a beating that Ryou would be feeling for weeks, the door to their compartment opened and a little squeak came from behind them.

Atemu dropped the tomb robber back into his seat, cooling down quickly despite the belligerent smirk he was receiving. He turned around to see a small boy with a pudgy face leaning into the compartment, already wearing his wizard robe, dark hair a total mess atop his head.

"Umm… e-excuse me…" he said, eyeing Atemu warily. "H-have you seen a toad? I've lost my Trevor…"

The pharaoh open his mouth to reply, but the tomb robber beat him to it. "No, but if I do, I'll let you know how he tasted."

The boy gave him a horrified look as Atemu whirled on him. Fortunately, he was gone before the pharaoh raised a hand to Bakura again, trying to punch him in the face. The tomb robber wormed to the side a bit, making it only a glancing blow as he smirked.

"You punch like a girl, your worship," he sneered. "Though, why am I not surprised?"

From the glare he was giving him, it looked like Atemu was going to send Bakura flailing into the Shadows. Malik stood up, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Easy pharaoh," he said, making him sit back down. "Can't you tell? He's getting you pissed off on purpose."

Atemu growled in annoyance, but flopped down in his seat, glaring out the window as the English countryside flew pass. There was a long stretch of silence, during which time the pharaoh had started to calm down considerably… before a whine from the bane of his existence made him twitch.

"Are we there _yeeeeeeeeeeeet?"_

-.oOOo.-

Malik had found out the hard way that two three thousand year old children were no fun to look after in a cramped train compartment. Naturally, he was relieved when both spirits retreated into their respective outer selves when the train came to a gradual stop. The three of them pulled on their school robes, after peeking outside to see the other students already decked out in the black robes, before heading out with the rest. They found themselves out on a train platform filling with the train's passengers, the night air about them much more cooler than they were used to.

"I thought Japan was cold," Malik muttered, wrapping his cloak about him closer as a loud voice bellowed above the chattering of the students.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

They followed a smaller group of kids off the platform and onto a dirt path… smaller in more ways than one.

"What is this…?" Ryou murmured softly. "These are just… _kids."_

"We're just kids too, Ryou," Yuugi pointed out.

"Not this young…" Malik agreed. "Why do you thi— whoa!"

Apparently it had rained earlier, because the path was wet and slippery; a little too slippery for the boots that Malik was wearing. He flailed desperately, trying not to fall over in vain. Fortunately, he was saved from mussing up his new robes, as there was someone rather tall behind him…

"Unless you want to get fucked by your own Rod, Malik, I suggest you move your ass."

Malik blinked, looking up as Yuugi and Ryou turned around.

"Kaiba-kun!" the shorter boy exclaimed as Malik straightened quickly. "What made you decide to come?"

"It's no concern of yours," Seto Kaiba sneered, brushing past them, following the rest of the students toward a large hairy man holding up a lantern. Yuugi shook his head; how very typical of Kaiba… stubborn to a fault, and everything with him had to have a dynamic flair to it. Even his school robes fanned out behind him dramatically, even though they were the same robes everyone else had.

Yuugi was snapped out of his thoughts as Malik rushed past him a bit, shaking his fist at Kaiba's back.

"I don't have my Rod anymore, so good luck trying to shove it up my ass, you prick!"

Both Yuugi and Ryou turned bright red, the latter hiding his face in his hands. "M-Malik!" Ryou exclaimed as some of the kids around them started giggling. "That doesn't sound right out of context!"

Malik paused a moment, blinking… before he turned red too. "Oopse."

They followed the rest of the group, a girl with bushy brown hair in front of them turning about every now and then to give Malik a strange look. By the time they ascended the slippery slope leading up to their destination, the Egyptian looked like he wanted to crawl into the smallest hole and disappear.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec, jus' round this bend here," the giant man called over his shoulder.

They turned the bend in the path, and there was a collective gasp from the students. They had arrived at the shore of an inky black lake, a long line of boats waiting patiently for them. Out beyond the lake, perched comfortably on what looked like a small mountain from their viewpoint, was what could only be described as a _castle._ Tall spires, dotted with the lights of evening fires, stretched up to the sky as if reaching for the stars themselves. The boys' jaws dropped when they saw in, amazed.

"Unreal…" Yuugi murmured.

"No more'n four to a boat!" the giant man bellowed.

The boys all scrambled for a boat, preferring to get one for themselves. Kaiba joined them a moment latter, obviously having little luck getting his own boat, and preferring their mixed company as opposed to the other children. They set off soon after everyone was settled, the boats propelling themselves toward the school. Kaiba leaned over the side a bit, as if searching for something, drawing a smirk out of Malik.

"Forget it, Kaiba," he said. "There's no wires or pulleys or machines. It's all magic."

"Pft," was Kaiba's indignant reply, not even bothering to glare at him.

The boat ride was brief, and despite the company they shared with Kaiba, Yuugi knew he was never going to forget it. They piled out of the boats along with the other first year students on the shore of the shore of the mountain-like island near the school. Everyone trudged up the slope, finding themselves standing at the large double front doors of the Hogwarts castle. The giant man reached up and knocked on the doors three times, and they opened almost immediately to reveal a tall, elderly woman in emerald green and black robes. She had a thin look to her face, making her look strict, yet kindly at the same time. Either way, it was clear that this was not a woman to be crossed.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," the man announced.

"Thank you, Hagrid," the woman replied with a very slight amount of warmth to her voice. "I will take them from here."

The first year students shepherded themselves into the castle, only to arrive in a main foyer big enough to fit the entire Kame Game Shop. There was the sound of chatter to the right – possibly the other students – but the professor led them to a smaller room on the left. Malik elbowed Yuugi as they entered the room.

"Hey, Yuugi-kun, remember the letter?" he whispered. "She's the Deputy Headmistress _and_ a professor?"

"She's obviously very important," Yuugi whispered back. "Ryou and I will have to make sure our other selves don't do anything rash in front of her."

As soon as everyone was settled in the room, Professor McGonagall turned around to face them, taking in all of them in turn before speaking.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she announced. "Now, before you join your fellow students, you will be sorted into your houses. They are Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. While you are here, your house will be like your family. Points will be awarded for academic achievement and other triumphs. However, any rule breaking, and you will loose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup, a great honor here at this school. The Sorting Ceremony will begin shortly. Do try to smarten yourselves up before then."

She glanced pointedly at a few students before she left, some of which scrambled to try and straighten their hair or wiped smudges off their faces. Ryou frowned, trying to fix up his own hair, which seemed to have taken a bit of a frizz to it from the cool damp air outside.

"A ceremony, hunh?" he asked as he worked. "I wonder what exactly we're supposed to do…"

"Who knows," Malik replied, glancing around at what was going to be their fellow classmates. The girl with the bushy brown hair was still taking glances back at him, and there was some stuck up pale boy conversing in low tones with the two brutes surrounding him. Everyone else seemed content with waiting a bit nervously, anxious to find out what would be awaiting them…

Professor McGonagall returned after a short while, and ordered everyone to quiet down. She ushered them to form a straight line, trying to organize them by height with little success, before she led them back into the main foyer and into the room where all the chatter had come from before.

If the main foyer could fit the Kame Game Shop in it, then the Great Hall could fit Kaiba Corporation Headquarters. Four long wooden tables were lined up before them, filled almost to the brim with students from other years. At the very end of the tables was another, facing perpendicular to the student tables, where several people who could only be the other professors sat waiting for them. Above their heads, candles floated about the room lazily and even higher than that, was what looked like a gigantic skylight, revealing the starry night outside. The only indication that it _was not_ a skylight, however, was the slight pattern of the ceiling visible in certain places.

The professor led the first years to the top of the hall, and lined them up with their backs facing the teacher's table. Before them, she placed a four-legged stool, and set a patched and fraying black wizard's hat on it. It sat innocently for a long moment, and Yuugi stared at it, perplexed. Just as he was about to wonder what they were supposed to do with it, however, a rip near the top of the hat opened of it's own accord, and it started to _sing._

_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep you bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet wise old Ravenclaw,  
If you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

Yuugi felt himself melt in a bit of relief; tension he did not realize had built up releasing as the hat sung its last note. All they had to do was put on a silly hat and it would tell them where they belonged? That was almost too easy!

Professor McGonagall lifted the hat up with one hand as she unrolled a length of parchment with the other. "When I call your name," she announced, "please sit down and put on the hat. Abbott, Hannah!"

A girl with blonde pigtails came out of the line and sat down. Ryou bit his lip as the hat was lowered over the young girl's head.

"G-guys," he whispered nervously. "What do you think will happen if—"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the Sorting Hat shouted, not giving him a chance to finish. The table on the farthest right cheered and clapped as the young girl went over to join her fellow classmates.

"Bakura, Ryou!" McGonagall announced. Ryou gulped loudly, before going over to the stool and sitting down. He was worried sick as the hat came down low over his eyes; the fact that he could hear some of the students whispering about how old he looked for a first year and his strange hair did not help any. He was worried that the Hat would pick up his other self… and then what would happen? It would announce that he was too tainted by darkness and it would not be safe for him to attend the school, just as Bobassa had said his heart was far too tainted with evil…

_Thanks for the vote of confidence… _Bakura grumbled in his head.

"Hum… two minds, here… two minds… that's most certainly different," the Sorting Hat whispered.

_Focus on the kid, hat, or I'll filet your… well, whatever passes for your ass, _Bakura snapped, making Ryou sweatdrop in embarrassment.

"Oh, of course, Mr. Grumpy Spirit," the Hat replied. "Let's see here… not a bad mind… not bad at all… very wise. But you're definitely more of a follower…" The Hat trailed off for a moment, thinking. "Actually, both of you are."

_A _follower? _Why you little…!_

"Better make it HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat shouted before Bakura could finish that threat.

Ryou willingly took the hat off and handed it back to Professor McGonagall before going to the same table that Hannah Abbott had gone too. He tossed Malik and Yuugi a relieved look before sitting down. Several more names went by, with a couple more going to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and one a piece going to Gryffindor and Slytherin. When "Granger, Hermione" was called, the bushy-haired girl that kept taking glances at Malik raced up and jammed the hat onto her head in barely contained excitement.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted after a few seconds.

"Ishtar, Malik!" McGonagall called as the girl raced to the Gryffindor table amongst polite applause. Malik went over and plopped down onto the stool, slipping the hat on over his eyes.

"Oh my, quite a bit of darkness piled up in your head," the hat whispered. "You weren't always a nice person, were you? There's also a great amount of loyalty to those you respect here… hmm… and a lot of courage to believe so strongly in that loyalty, that those higher than you won't betray your faith… hmm… tough choice, tough choice… Hmm… well, let that courage shine a bit stronger in GRYFFINDOR!"

Malik took the Sorting Hat off and handed it to the professor as more polite applause came from that table. He gave Yuugi a wink for luck, before joining the middle left table.

"Kaiba, Seto!"

Kaiba strode forward, and immediately there were murmurings of how he was just far too tall to be a normal first year. He sat down and put on the hat, and the voice of the Sorting Hat came almost immediately.

"Oh, we have a brainy boy here!" it exclaimed. "It's clear where you belong. RAVENCLAW!"

Kaiba handed the hat back to McGonagall and joined the middle right table, his expression never changing from his usual stern scowl, which made several students give him a noticeable amount of space as soon as he sat down. That left Yuugi as the only one out of the four of them left in line. He got a queasy feeling to his stomach as "Longbottom, Neville" was called, and the boy that Bakura had terrorized on the train tottered forward unsteadily. What if the Sorting Hat did not place him anywhere? What if it declared that there had been a mistake and he should go home?

_Aibou, you know better than that,_ Atemu admonished in his head as Neville was announced a Gryffindor and "MacDougal, Morag" was called. _You'll get placed in the house that's right for you, just like all the others._

Yugi smiled inwardly. _I know… but you can't help but think these things when you're nervous and alone, mou hitori no boku._

_You're never alone while I'm still alive, aibou, _Atemu murmured softly as "Malfoy, Draco" was called, and the pale blonde boy from that had been conversing with the two large boys swaggered up to the stool. He started to place the Sorting Hat on his head, but it appeared to be struggling, as if it did not want to touch him.

"SLYTHERIN!" it shouted. Draco Malfoy smirked before joining the two thugs – his bodyguards most likely, considering they did not seem to have an ounce of brainpower other than "punch this" and "beat that" – at the far left table. There was another student called, and then it was…

"Mutou, Yuugi!"

He could hear faint giggles and murmurs coming from around the room as he stepped out of line and sat down on the stool, catching some of the younger students pointing to him, especially his hair. He wondered briefly if his grandfather ever had this problem before cramming the Sorting Hat over his hair.

"Ouch!" the hat exclaimed. "Watch where you're pointing that hair, boy!"

Yuugi sweatdropped as Atemu replied tersely, _You watch it, Hat._

"Ohhhhh… another child with two minds…" the Sorting Hat mused. "I wasn't aware we were allowing possessed students to enter. Well, anyway, let's see now… A great mind, that's for sure, a great amount of cunning, and plenty of loyalty. You could be a mascot for all the houses. However, your courage outshines them all, so away with you to GRYFFINDOR!"

Yuugi nearly melted in relief as he took off the hat and handed it back to McGonagall. He joined Malik at the Gryffindor table, who stood up and gave him a high-five before the two of them sat back down together, the Japanese boy practically flopping into his seat. There were not many left now, and the two them would have ignored the rest if one name had not shocked the whole hall into silence.

"Potter, Harry!"

Yuugi and Malik looked up to see a short, skinny boy that looked like he barely ate anything step out of line. His dark hair was a shaggy mess, barely hiding a lightning-bolt shaped scar on his forehead. Everyone else in the room stared at him in awed silence, but they – as well as Kaiba and Ryou, though they could not see them – were confused. What was so special about this boy? The boy put on the Sorting Hat, and everyone waited in a hushed silence, some people holding their breaths. After what seemed like an eternity, the hat announced its choice.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Their whole table erupted in excited cheers. Two identical red-haired boys behind them started chanting, "We've got Potter! We've got Potter!" as the young boy walked over to their table and nearly collapsed in his seat.

Yuugi and Malik exchanged looks, before staring at this Potter boy, who's attention had been drawn back up to the line of students as "Weasley, Ron" was called. Just… what was so important about this kid…?


	4. Magic Classes

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

Just one thing to note of in this chapter. At one point it says Malik says something in Japanese (during the first class with Snape). I fully intened to replace what's there with actual Japanese, but I just wanted to get this chapter up as soon as I finished.

Please enjoy.

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR – MAGIC CLASSES**

Ryou tossed and turned in his bed, before finally bolting from it, heading down into the Hufflepuff common room and barging into the bathroom. Bakura came out a few minutes later, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Ra almighty, yadonushi, did you have to go ape shit with the fucking creampuffs…" he muttered, looking around. There was no way he would be able to get any _real _food up here in a common room full of conked out brats. He was going to have to try and figure out where the kitchens were… a thought that brought an almost sinister grin to the tomb robber's face.

_Just like the good ole' days… _he thought to himself as he headed out.

-.oOOo.-

In the Ravenclaw common room, there was the sound of someone tapping his fingers against metal, before stabbing a button with one of said fingers… followed by a low growl as the object that button was connected to refused to turn on. Kaiba glared down at his laptop like it had betrayed him, silently demanding the computer to turn on (as if it would do so). It had suddenly winked out on the train, sometime just before it had arrived at the school, and had not been working since. What the heck was he supposed to do if his computer would not work?

…_well, there is always sleep… _he thought to himself.

Kaiba frowned bitterly, stabbing the power button again.

-.oOOo.-

Yuugi tossed and turned on his giant four-poster bed, huggling his Black Magician plushie that his grandfather had given him before the trip, before finally beating his head against the pillow in defeat. He was far too excited about everything going on, and had a feeling that something as mind numbing as sleep would not be coming to him tonight.

He sat up after a moment, wondering if he should attempt using his game system; he had spotted Kaiba trying to wrestle his laptop into working during dinner, so he was a little edgy about it. Just as he was about to reach through the curtains to grab it, however, he heard a soft voice from the bed next to his.

"Oy, Yuugi-kun, you awake?"

Yuugi poked his head out from the curtains, to see Malik doing the same across the way.

"Couldn't sleep either, hunh?" he asked.

Malik shook his head. "Nuh-uh. It's too damn cold," he said. "I mean, not as cold as the desert is at night, but pretty damn close."

"I'm sure you'll get used to it," Yuugi replied, pushing the curtains out of his way and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "We're going to be here for awhile, after all."

"True," Malik admitted. "I just hop—"

"Is someone else awake?"

The boys looked about, spotting another boy awake, sitting by one of the windows in the room with an owl perched on the sill next to him. Getting up and walking over proved it to be Harry Potter, the boy everyone had made such a fuss over during the Sorting Ceremony. Yuugi plopped down on the ground before him while Malik sat on the bed, introducing themselves. Harry introduced himself in turn, but when the two foreign boys did not recognize his name, he seemed surprised.

"You're the first people I've met in this 'world' that don't recognize me," he admitted.

"Why?" Malik asked. "You famous?"

Harry pushed his bangs back, revealing the lightning shaped scar on his forehead more clearly. "When I was a babe, my family was attacked by a dark wizard called Voldemort. He killed my parents… but couldn't kill me. He disappeared and I ended up with this scar. At least… that's what I've been told. No one knows for sure what happened."

Yuugi's eyes widened. "Wow…"

"I sympathize," Malik said, a bit of a frown on his face. "I can kinda relate to being known for something you don't really understand. People probably expect a lot outta 'ya, hunh?"

"I've gathered as much," Harry admitted.

"Don't let it bother you so much," Yuugi said brightly. "Out of everything that's happened to me, I've learned it's a person's choices that determine what kind of person they're going to be, along with the friends they have to support them along the way."

Malik stuck his pinky finger in his ear, pretending he did not hear that. "Yuugi, you were hanging around Anzu before you left, weren't you?"

Yuugi razed him playfully, before grinning up at Harry. "So let's be friends! And let's promise to help each other out if we ever need it."

Harry smiled, finding Yuugi's cheerfulness a bit contagious. The three of them shook hands, sealing the promise.

-.oOOo.-

Yuugi and Malik found out just _how _famous Harry was the next day. They had set out from the common room to go to breakfast – joined by Ron Weasley, whom Harry had met on the train to the school – the four of them could hear astonished whispers trailing behind them. Everything about Harry's scar to his hair seemed to be the subject of discussion amongst the students, and Malik joked that before the end of the first day, Harry was going to have a fan club like Yuugi's back in Japan.

"Did you have to bring that up…?" Yuugi groaned over his cornflakes, trying to hide his face.

"What?" Ron asked, blinking, a strip of bacon half hanging out of his mouth. "You're famous too?"

Harry frowned at him. "Now that I think about it, I think I've seen your face somewhere before…"

Yuugi flushed as Malik grinned. "Don't mind me…" the former murmured. "I'm just another new wizard here… I don't want more people walking around with Styrofoam replicas of my hair on their heads…"

That got Ron and Harry to clam up about the subject, though they glanced around, trying to picture their classmates with Yuugi-hair.

Trying to find their classes after breakfast was an adventure in and of itself. There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts, and each and every one of them seemed to have a mind of their own. Some led to a different location on some days, others had an vanishing step that you had to remember to jump over… as Ron found out when they attempted to go to History of Magic.

"_HELP!" _he yelped, clinging onto the step above for dear life. Malik and Harry whirled around, helping him back onto solid ground. Ron flopped back, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Oy… the way we're going, I'm glad Mr. Binns is a ghost," he said.

Yuugi blinked, paling slightly. "Wh…what! Our History of Magic teacher is a… is a…"

"Easy, Yuugi," Malik said, holding up his hands. "I'm sure he doesn't look like _those _ghosts."

Harry and Ron exchanged confused looks, out of the loop.

Indeed, Mr. Binns did not look at all like the ghosts Yuugi had been thinking of – those being the ghosts that haunted (and to his knowledge, still haunted) the ruins of Kuru Eruna. In fact, he did not look much different than when he had been alive, aside from the fact that he was wispy, white, and sort of washed out. From what Ron told them after class, he did not act much different either. He droned on and on about names and dates and their importance, and they were expected to jot down quick notes as he spoke. Most people ended up falling asleep, though Yuugi made a valiant effort not to. Malik also tried to keep up, but with the girl that had been staring at him the night before – Hermione, he recalled – scribbling down notes like it was going out of style next to him, it was a bit hard to not be distracted.

After the bell rang, it was back to trying to navigate the corridors of the school. Fortunately, the other ghosts of the school were nice enough to assist lost students… some of them anyway. The ghost of Gryffindor House, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, was nice enough to point them to the quickest way to Professor Flitwick's Charms class. He was a ghost that even Yuugi could like… once he got over the fact that a stray breeze knocked his head over, leaving it hanging by a flap of skin.

"Now you know why he's called 'Nearly Headless Nick'," Ron said, staying a bit away from Yuugi in case he got sick.

Worst than that, though, was the school poltergeist, Peeves. It must have been known by the next day that Yuugi was queasy around the ghosts, because the poltergeist popped up behind him as they navigated the halls, grabbing his nose and screeching, _"GOT YOUR CONK!"_

Malik, Ron, and Harry ended up having to drag Yuugi's unconscious body out to the greenhouses after that, and ended up late to Herbology; the Japanese boy was a lot heavier than he looked. After Professor Sprout roused him, they started learning how to take care of the various plants and fungi that dotted the houses, and what they were used for when properly harvested.

When it came to Professor McGonagall's class, Yuugi had been right in saying that he had to keep any Egyptian spirits in check in her presence. While she had the appearance of a kindly old woman, she was clearly strict, and gave each of them a talking-to the moment everyone was gathered for her class.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and potentially dangerous magic at Hogwarts," she said sternly. "Anyone that messes around in this class will leave and will not come back."

She then proceeded to change her desk into a pig and back again, though it was clear that they would not be doing anything like that anytime soon. After some complicated note taking, they were given a match and told to turn it into a needle. By the end of the class, only Hermione (who was proving herself to be more of a know-it-all with every class) and Yuugi had managed to make a significant change in their matches. Hermione's had gone all silver and pointy, while Yuugi's looked more like silver had been painted on the wood.

"Better than nothing, Yuugi-kun," Malik muttered, poking his match with his wand dispiritedly, only to have it catch fire. He let out a yelp, smacking the flames out with his hand… and ended up being the first student to become acquainted with the school nurse, Madam Pomfrey.

The class that most students had been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Stepping into the room for the first time, however, proved that the lessons were going to be a bit of a joke. A horrid smell of garlic permeated the room, and the teacher of the class, Professor Quirrell, was a stammering, stuttering mess. He wore a large, purple turban, which also carried the horrid smell of garlic. Rumor had it Quirrell had barely escaped from a vampire while traveling in Romania, and he was terrified that it would come back to finish the job. Given the smell, no one was about to contest to that.

Though Yuugi and Malik felt a bit out of place, being only two of four people that were not eleven years old in their year, they were relieved that they were not the only ones that were clueless. Aside from the know-it-all Hermione, even the kids that came from wizarding families were no better off than they were.

The week breezed by quickly, and soon it was Friday, the final day of classes for the week, and…

"Double Potions with Slytherin house," Malik announced at breakfast, "taught by Professor Snape."

Yuugi, Malik, Ron, and Harry both looked up to the professor's table, were the teacher in question was sitting aloof from the others. Unlike the other teachers, he never seemed to wear anything other than black, and had long, oily black hair framing a severe-looking face. His skin was pale as well, making him look like a gothic vampire from old cheesy horror films.

The four boys exchanged queasy looks.

"We're doomed," they said at the same time.

Potions was held down in the dungeons, where it was cold, dank, and dark; it was quite creepy enough without their eerie professor and the pickled animals floating in the glass jars about the walls. Snape eyed each one of them in turn as he took role, pausing at Harry's name to sneer at him. Harry gulped, shrinking back in his seat.

Things did not get better after that. After attendance, Snape began quizzing Harry, asking him questions that he could not possibly answer. Malik glared at him each time he insulted his new friend, and when he took a point from Gryffindor because Harry talked back at him, it took every bit of will power that he had not to jump up from behind his desk and strangle the man.

"Oh, go take a shower, slime ball," he muttered under his breath in Japanese. Snape snapped his head toward him.

"Sumimasen?" he responded, making both him and Yuugi jump in surprise.

"Oh shit!" Malik exclaimed, getting several giggles from the rest of the class.

"Another five points from Gryffindor for your foul mouth, Mr. Ishtar," Snape replied.

After some note taking, they were split off into pairs and set to concoct a simple potion to cure boils. Harry and Yuugi, and Ron and Malik were paired together, and they were doing just fine as far as they were concerned. For Yuugi, it was just like chemistry class back at Domino High School, only with a little magical tint to it. Snape, however, criticized them, displeased with every one except Draco.

One of the things the four boys had found out about their fellow Gryffindor classmates over the past week, was that both Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnegan had a habit of being a bit of a klutz. The two of them had gotten paired together – which in itself was a disaster waiting to happen. Disaster did strike, too, when Neville had managed to melt Seamus' cauldron, their potion escaping out into the classroom. In a split second, everyone was standing on his or her stools, except for Neville, whose arms and legs had burst out in ugly red boils. Snape snarled at him before ordering him to the hospital wing, and then turning his malice on Harry and Yuugi, who had been working next to them.

"Another point from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter," Snape sneered, "for not warning him about the consequences of his mistake."

Harry was about to retort for the unfair point taking, when Yuugi slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Don't tempt fate, Harry-kun," he whispered.

Fortunately, they were able to trudge out of the dungeons at noon without any further damage to their house points. Harry was sullen that he had lost two points alone, though Malik cheered him up by mentioning the five points he lost at once. At lunch, the young wizard mentioned he was going to see the groundskeeper, Hagrid – the giant that had escorted them to the school. Ron asked if he could go too, while Malik pouted slightly.

"I feel like dueling," he said, flopping his head against the table. "I'm card deprived, and our Duel Disks don't work in the school. I checked earlier."

"Nothing electronic works?" Yuugi asked, while Ron's lips were posed to ask what they were talking about.

"I don't think so," Malik replied, before pointing a thumb behind him to the Ravenclaw table. "Besides, have you seen Kaiba lately?"

Yuugi turned around and looked all the way down to the very end of the Ravenclaw table. There was Kaiba all right, sitting by himself with a wide amount of space separating him from the nearest student. He was twitching, and looking like he was going to snap at anyone that so much as breathed in his direction.

"What's the matter with him?" Harry asked.

"Computer withdrawal," Malik and Yuugi answered, the latter sweatdropping at the sight.

"You know, there's supposed to be a charm that allows smaller electroniks to work…" Ron mused. That instantly caught the other boy's attention.

"Really?" Malik asked, before whipping his head over to Yuugi. "You –" He glanced down at the Puzzle quickly to indicate which "you" he meant – "me, rematch."

"Okay!" Yuugi exclaimed, laughing as they got up and bolted from the Gryffindor table, leaving a confused Harry and Ron in their wake.

A few minutes later, the short of stature Professor Flitwick was interrupted from his lunch and presented with two of the electronic Duel Disk by two very anxious duelists. He frowned at the contraptions, taking Yuugi's from his hands and inspecting it. Near him, Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall were eyeing the devices as well, though the headmaster looked more amused than the deputy headmistress.

"And… what exactly do you do with these Muggle contraptions?" Flitwick finally asked.

"You duel with them," Malik said anxiously, as if that explained everything. It did not.

"Duel how?" Flitwick replied, eyebrow raised, almost looking interested.

"With cards," Yuugi explained. "It's a game."

"A game?" the teacher echoed, blinking… before he finally shrugged, taking his wand out and waving it at the Disks. They glowed slightly before returning to normal. "The things Muggles come up with."

"Thanks professor!" Yuugi exclaimed as they started off. Malik glanced back as they dashed out of the Great Hall.

"You gonna tell him Kaiba made these things?" he asked.

"Nah, he'll find out," Atemu replied, making the modern day Egyptian jump.

"Geeze, pharaoh, warning…" he muttered.

Atemu turned toward him and grinned as they sprinted out the double doors, joining the kids that had already finished their lunch and were enjoying their afternoon off. The sprit looked just about as excited as Yuugi had been; obviously, he had not dueled in a long time. Even if it was a rematch, the chance to do so was just something he could not pass up.

They settled on a less crowded area of the grounds, rolling up their cloaks so they could easily slide on their Duel Disks. Atemu pulled out his deck, flipping through it, before taking out a card and tossing it to Malik.

"Here," he called, just as the Gravekeeper caught it. He stared at it for a long moment in surprise, caught off guard.

"Ra?" he asked. "Why?"

The pharaoh just smiled. "You said, rematch…"

-.oOOo.-

Harry was walking back from Hagrid's house, numerous thoughts running through his mind. When Hagrid had first picked him up and taken him around Diagon Alley, they had made a stop to Gringotts Bank to pick up some money for himself… and to pick up what he had previously dismissed as just a grubby old package. The newspaper article he had seen laying on Hagrid's table had proved otherwise, however. Someone had tried to break into Gringotts to grab that package, the very same day they had visited the bank as a matter of fact. That made Harry nervous; was something going on right under his nose…?

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a deafening roar that seemed to fill the entire area. Ron looked over to him, eyes widening, before the two of them bolted back toward the school… Just in time to see a gigantic red dragon loom up, two jaws opened wide and body long enough to wrap around the school. The two of them stopped so fast they could see their skid marks if they looked back, watching in wide-eyed horror as the dragon opened its lower mouth, and a hail of thunder shot out.

That got Harry and Ron moving again, running to see if anyone was hurt… only to smack into a wall of their fellow classmates, all of whom had gathered to watch what was taking place. Or, rather, what _had _taken place; if the giant red dragon disappearing as if it never existed was any indication, whatever had happened was over. Applause broke out amongst the crowd as Harry and Ron pushed their way through it, trying to see what had happened…

They broke through in time to see Malik shaking Yuugi's hand, handing him a card. Harry frowned; Yuugi looked a bit different… he could not quite put his finger on it, but there was something about him that looked familiar…

His eyes widened; suddenly, it clicked.

"Now I remember…!" he exclaimed softly so only Ron could hear. "I remember seeing it in my cousin's old card game magazines. He was in one of the issues!"

"What?" Ron asked blinking. "Who?"

Harry waved toward the scene before them. "Yuugi Mutou: The Duel King."


	5. Duels and Broomsticks

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

I have no excuse for not putting out a chapter yesterday, other than my own laziness. This chapter was actually rather easy to write, and contains a scene from the original Harry Potter book that got butchered out of the original. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE – DUELS AND BROOMSTICKS**

Harry and Ron were quick to discover that Yuugi was to the Muggle world as Harry was to the Wizard world: insanely famous. Everywhere they went now, either students were trying to get Harry's attention, or people were practically glomping Yuugi, asking for dueling tips. He looked positively harassed when he plopped down at the Gryffindor table that Thursday, a week after the duel. Malik gave him a sympathetic look, before leaning close and dropping his voice so the others would not hear.

"Maybe we should have left the pharaoh out of it…" he murmured.

"I would have still dueled," Yuugi pointed out, snagging a piece of bacon, and noticing Harry and Ron looking particularly glum. "What's wrong, guys?"

"We've got flight lessons today," Ron replied. "With Slytherin."

Malik groaned. "Oh, whoopty fucking whee-ha…"

"Indeed," Harry agreed half-heartedly. "I'm not in the mood to make a fool of myself in front of Malfoy."

Draco Malfoy, the boy that the Sorting Hat had been all too willing to drop into Slytherin House, was an obvious mascot for the house of the school that had cranked out the most Dark Wizards. He was snooty to a fault, and everything had to be in his view of things, or it was wrong. What made it worse was he was from a family of Pureblood Wizards – a family that did not have a single drop of Muggle blood in it – and his pride as such made his overbearing ego even more so.

Mail came, and one of the school's owls dropped a note from Sugoroku in front of Yuugi, who eagerly snatched it up to read, while a barn owl dropped a package in front of Neville. He unwrapped it quickly, happily showing off a glass ball lined with gold, which seemed to have white smoke billowing about on the inside.

"It's a Remembrall," he explained. "Gram knows I tend to forget things; so it'll turn red when… oh…"

He trailed off, watching as the smoke inside suddenly turned red.

"The only problem is you can't remember what you've forgotten, hunh?" Malik asked. Neville nodded sheepishly, drawing a chuckle out of Harry.

Just then, Draco passed by, snatching the ball out of Neville's hands. Malik, Ron, and Harry sprung out of their seats; half hoping the Slytherin boy would be there to pick a fight… only to be deterred thanks to Professor McGonagall.

"What's going on?" she demanded, eyeing them suspiciously. Neville looked up to Malfoy, who simply dropped the Remembrall back onto the table.

"Just looking at it," he muttered, swaggering off.

-.oOOo.-

Classes went by quickly that day, and at three-thirty in the afternoon, Gryffindor house was marching out to the practice field where they would finally get their first chance to fly on a broom. It seemed to be the perfect day for it; the sky above was crystal clear, and there was a slight breeze blowing through the school grounds. Slytherin joined them soon after they arrived, Malfoy throwing Harry a quick scowl before their instructor, Madam Hooch, showed up.

Madam Hooch was a stout elderly woman with nearly pure white hair and hawk-like eyes. Despite this, she seemed kindly enough with her friendly, but stern, smile. She reminded Yuugi of a gym teacher in her mannerisms.

"All right, everyone!" she announced. "Stand next to a broom. Quickly now."

The two groups of students stood next to a broom, facing each other. Malik looked down at his, remembering that Ron's twin brothers, Fred and George, said something about the school brooms being some of the worst. He did look like he got one of the bad ones, too, as many of the twigs were sticking out at strange angles.

"Now," Madam Hooch continued once everyone was settled, "put a hand over your broom and shout, 'up'!"

"_Up!"_

Yuugi's and Harry's went to their hands right away, but they were one of the few brooms that did. Hermione's just kept rolling on the ground, while Neville's did not move at all (though the fact that he could hardly be heard as he tried to shout "Up" might have had something to do with it). Ron's took two tries before it flew into his hand. Malik was at his third try when the broom handle swung up and cracked him on the head before flopping back down again.

It took awhile, but once everyone had one in hand, Madam Hooch showed everyone how to properly mount the brooms. Yuugi had a bit of difficulty because of his height, but both he and Harry were the only two students who managed to get it right on the first try.

"Are you sure you two haven't flown before?" she asked them, which of course, they had not.

She continued down the line, correcting grips and seating positions. Harry was thrilled when she informed Malfoy he had been holding his wrong for years. She went to the front of the lines once everyone was properly mounted on their brooms, out of the way.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you'll kick off from the ground hard, fly up a bit, and touch back down," she announced. "One… two…"

Neville, so nervous he was shaking, kicked off of the ground early. Madam Hooch shouted for him to come back down, but he was so scared that he could not control his broom. It shot straight up into the air, and he slid off the end, landing on the ground with a sickening thud. The broom, caught in a wind gust, floated off until it disappeared into the canopy of the Forbidden Forest.

The instructor raced to Neville right away, her face as white as her hair. She helped him sit up, and he let out a whimper of pain as she took hold of his arm.

"Oh, it's all right," she cooed softly. "It's just a broken wrist." She helped him stand up, before turning to the rest of the class. "Everyone is to stay with their feet firmly on the ground while I escort Mr. Longbottom to the Hospital Wing. If _any_ of you use your brooms you'll be out of this school faster than you can say 'Quidditch'."

Neville slumped off, whimpering softly as Madame Hooch wrapped a comforting arm around him. A few students – Malik included – flopped back on the grass or started conversing softly amongst themselves. No sooner were the instructor and Neville out of earshot, however, did Malfoy start on one of his tirades.

"Did you see the look on his face? The great lump."

"Put a sock in it, Malfoy," Malik grumbled, laying back and throwing an arm over his eyes.

There came a shuffling of feet before Malfoy spoke again. "How 'bout I shove this in yours instead?" he sneered, and the Egyptian sat up to see the pale boy clutching Neville's Remembrall. Malik scrambled to his feet to get it back, but Harry beat him too it, standing before him, clutching his broom.

"Give it here, Malfoy," he said in a soft voice that made everyone around them hush.

"No," Malfoy replied stubbornly, mounting his broom and kicking off, floating up in the air. "I think I'll put it somewhere he can find it… like the _roof."_

Yuugi pulled out his wand. "Why you… you… _brat! _Get down he—Harry, what are you doing?"

As Malfoy rose still higher, Harry mounted his own broom. Hermione pushed her way past Malik and Ron, trying to remind them of what Madame Hooch said, but it was no use. Harry kicked off the ground, flying up after Malfoy. He wobbled a bit at first, but quickly got the hang of it, looking like he had been flying for years. Words were exchanged that those down below could not hear, before…

"Try and catch it then!" Draco shouted, tossing the Remembrall.

Almost instantly, Harry dived after it. Yuugi and a few others shrieked his name, watching in wide-eyed horror as the younger boy came within inches of the ground… before his hand snapped out, snatching something that could only be the Remembrall out of the air. He pulled up the broom just enough so he could gently tumble back onto the grass.

Everyone surged forward, just as a shriek came from the grounds…

"_HARRY POTTER!"_

Everyone spun around to see a white-faced Professor McGonagall stomping across the grounds toward the group. Malfoy, his feet back on the ground long ago, smirked at the teacher's appearance, as if he knew that Harry was a dead boy.

"_Never_ in all my years at Hogwarts…!" she began. Yuugi jumped in front of Harry as she approached, protecting his friend.

"Iie, McGonagall-sensei!" he exclaimed, forgetting to speak English. "It wasn't Harry-kun's fault!"

"Be _quiet, _Mr. Mutou," McGonagall snapped. "Come with me, Mr. Potter. _Now."_

-.oOOo.-

Malik, Yuugi, and Ron were just leaving from the common room to go to the Great Hall for supper, when the Weasley twins – Ron's older brothers Fred and George – approached them, giddy with excitement. They started yammering on at a rapid fire pace, and it took the three of them yelling over the twins to get them to settle down enough to speak clearly.

"You guys won't believe it –" Fred began.

"– Harry Potter is –" George interrupted.

"– the new Gryffindor seeker!" they finished.

"No way!" Ron exclaimed.

"Um… what's…?" Yuugi began.

"He is _so_ good too!" Fred exclaimed. "Wood took him through some practice runs and he caught the Snitch _every time!"_

"No way!" Ron cried again.

"Ano… nani…?" Malik began, speaking the wrong language.

"We haven't won since Charlie graduated, but this year we're gonna kick –"

"Excuse us!"

The three Weasleys clamped their mouths shut, looking over to Yuugi and Malik as they stood before them with their hands on their hips.

"What the _hell_ are you people talking about!" Malik demanded.

"Quidditch," a voice said behind them. They turned to see Harry approaching them, a broad smile on his face. "It's a wizard's sport, kind of like football on broomsticks and with three different balls instead of just one."

"Yeah, and Harry's going to be the seeker," Fred cut in. "His job is to catch the Golden Snitch, a really tiny gold ball with wings that's really fast and damned impossible to see."

"That's great, Harry!" Yuugi exclaimed as they continued their walk back to the Great Hall. "But… um… it does sound a bit dangerous when you compare it to football…"

"Oh, don't worry," Fred said, waving a dismissive hand. "No one's gotten killed in a few years."

"That is _so _reassuring," Malik replied dully as Harry laughed.

"Anyway, we've got to go," Fred began.

"Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new passage out of the school," George explained.

"Probably the same one we found our first week of school," Fred ended, waving as they walked off.

Harry, Yuugi, Ron, and Malik exchanged amused looks, before the Weasley twins were replaced by a less than welcome presence. Malfoy smirked at Harry, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him with the usual dull expressions on their faces.

"Walking toward your last meal, Potter?" the pale boy asked, sounding amused. "When are you getting on the train to go back to the Muggles?"

Harry gave him a cool look. "Much braver now that your little friends are with you," he replied. Granted, Crabbe and Goyle were far from little, but from the way Malik was practically bristling like a cat, he did not think he would get hurt too much if it came down to a fight.

"I'll take you on anytime, Potter," Malfoy sneered. "In fact… tonight, if you will. Wizards duel, wands only – no contact. You… _do _know what a Wizards duel is, don't you?"

Harry's mouth was open, but Ron answered. "Of course he does," he stated. "I'll be his second, who's yours?"

Malfoy glanced back at Crabbe and Goyle. "Crabbe," he replied, looking back at Ron and Harry. "Midnight, at the Trophy Room; it's always unlocked. As for loud mouths that call me a 'brat' like _you…"_

Malfoy and his goons turned a glare to Yuugi, who gulped and backed up. Malik went to move forward to stop the three of them… when they suddenly stopped on their own, looks of horror on their faces at something above Yuugi's head. The smaller boy blinked, before he found an arm draped over his shoulder. Malik looked then yelped, backing up in surprise, and Yuugi could just see him mouthing "tomb robber" out of the corner of his eye.

"Now you three brats wouldn't happen to be causing trouble, would you…?" came Bakura's purring voice from behind Yuugi, making him gulp again.

Apparently, the three Slytherins were more afraid of Bakura than Yuugi was of him. They backed away, muttering something under their breaths before taking off.

Yuugi turned around, looking up at the tomb robber in surprise. Bakura backed off, giving him and his friends a casual smirk as he leaned back against the wall. Ron gulped softly; apparently Bakura had been setting up quite a… reputation for poor Ryou.

"Yuugi, how come you haven't introduced me to your friends yet?" he asked.

Yuugi made a nervous sound… before he suddenly stood up a little straighter, his voice coming out a little deeper.

"This is Ron and Harry," Atemu introduced, eyes narrowed. Harry and Ron exchanged confused looks; did Yuugi just… change?

Bakura smirked, raising his hands defensively. "No need to get testy, your highness-ness," he said, grinning as Malik winced.

"Your highness-ness?" Ron asked, making the Gravekeeper wince again.

"Nickname, kiddo," Bakura explained fluidly, standing up and walking over to the pharaoh, getting rather close to his face and making him lean back a bit. "Yuugi_-chan_ has a tendency to be rather royal sometimes."

Harry and Ron would never be certain what happened after that; Bakura moved far too fast for even Harry to follow. All they knew that Bakura walked away cackling, with "Yuugi" holding his rear end with an "I've just been violated" look on his face.

"Any…way…" Harry began, eyeing "Yuugi" suspiciously as he rubbed his rear end. He turned to Ron, giving him a look. "What are you getting me into?"

"Just a Wizard's duel," Ron assured him. "Don't worry; you two are still inexperienced Wizards, so it shouldn't be fatal."

Malik exchanged weirded out looks with Atemu. "Is there anything in the Wizarding world that _doesn't _involve death?"

Atemu just shrugged helplessly.

-.oOOo.-

"I still think this is a bad idea…"

Atemu (who had decided to take charge of Yuugi's body as they snuck out that night) looked about with something akin to nervousness on his face. The school could be creepy enough on its own during the daytime, but at night, with the corridors darkened and only strips of moonlight coming into the windows to see by, it was downright eerie. The fact that the pharaoh swore he heard the sound of metal screeching on metal as they made their way down a hall lined with suits of armor did not help in the least. That, and the dread over turning a corner and smacking into Filch, the caretaker, or Mrs. Norris, his red-eyed cat, had both him and Malik very jumpy.

"We're going to get in a lot of trouble if we're caught…" Malik whispered.

"We're going to _get _caught if you don't hush," Ron hissed in front of them, following Harry as close as he could.

It took awhile, but they finally made it to the Trophy Room on the third floor. It was deserted; apparently Malfoy and Crabbe had not shown up yet.

"Don't tell me they chickened out…" Ron said, as Harry looked around at the cups, plates, and other trophies that glittered in the moonlight. Malik and Atemu, meanwhile, were keeping an eye on the other two doors out of the room, and both jumped when a sound came from behind one of the doors…

"Sniff around, my sweet. They might be lurking in a corner."

Malik whirled around, eyes wide. "Filch," he mouthed, not that he needed to. Harry and Ron were already running as quietly as they could back the way they came. Atemu's robes had just flapped around the corner when they heard Filch's voice again, speaking to Mrs. Norris. Harry didn't want to stay to listen, waving for the others to follow him back down the gallery of suits of armor, moving as fast as they dared.

Atemu, however, was moving too fast, at least for his robes anyway. They got tangled in his legs, and next thing he knew, he was colliding into a suit of armor, the clanging noise loud enough to ring through the whole school.

"_RUN!" _Harry shouted, both Malik and Ron helping Atemu back to his feet before taking off as fast as they could, not bothering to look back and see how close behind Filch was. They ripped through the hallways, barreling down a secret path that brought them out just before the Charms classroom, miles away from the Trophy Room, before they stopped for breath.

"I… think we… lost him…" Harry gasped, falling back against a wall.

"I… shoulda… known…" Atemu gasped, clutching a stitch in his chest. "Malfoy set you… up, Harry. He never… planned on showing up… tonight. He told… Filch instead."

Harry was about to tell him he was probably right, when a voice from the corridor they just bust out of cut him off.

"Well, here's a sight I never thought I'd see," Bakura said, poking his head out next to the pharaoh and nearly scaring him to the afterlife. "Pharaoh Goody Two-Shoes breaking a rule."

Atemu whirled as Ron blinked. "Pharaoh?"

"'Nother nickname," Malik muttered, covering his face with a hand.

"Tomb robber, what the hell are you doing here!" Atemu hissed.

"Tomb robber?"

"Nickname…"

"Oh, and what else would a _fine, _upstanding student of Hogwarts like myself be doing up at night? Raiding the kitchens, of course," Bakura said with a grin.

Atemu growled. "This is _so _typical of you! You never thi—"

The pharaoh was cut short as Bakura smacked a hand over his mouth, grabbing and turning him around so he could hold him close and keep his hand over his mouth easier. Atemu struggled of course, but not when he heard a doorknob rattle. Something shot out of a classroom a moment later: Peeves, who let out a squeal of delight at seeing them.

"Shhh…! Peeves, please…!" Ron hissed softly.

The poltergeist just cackled. "Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Put a sock in it, Peeves, or I'll go to the Bloody Baron," Bakura threatened. Peeve's eyes narrowed as Atemu rolled his eyes. Leave it to the tomb robber to get to know the ghosts of the school. The Bloody Baron was the Slytherin ghost, and the only one that could keep the poltergeist in line.

Apparently, he did not like being threatened in such a way by a mere mortal. He took a deep breath, and Bakura was already moving, letting go of Atemu before snatching his hand and dragging him behind him.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED IN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

Harry, Ron, and Malik were not too far behind the tomb robber and the pharaoh, barreling down the corridor to the very end… and a locked door.

"This is it!" Ron wailed as the sound of fast moving footsteps reached their ears. "We're doomed!"

"Move it, brat," Bakura snapped, pushing Ron out of the way and pulling his wand out of his robes, tapping the lock with it. "Alohomora!"

The lock clicked and the door swung open. The five of them piled into the room, throwing the door closed quickly. Barely a moment after it was closed, Atemu whirled on Bakura.

"You _would _know a spell to unlock doors," he snapped.

"Take a pill, your worship," Bakura snapped. "It's in the _Standard Book of Spells._ Chapter seven if you want to look it up."

"_SHHHH!" _the other three boys snapped, their ears pressed against the door, trying to hear what Filch was saying to Peeves. Bakura and Atemu could not hear very well from where they were standing, though they did hear a shout of "nothing!" followed by Filch swearing angrily.

"I think we're okay," Malik said, stepping away from the door. "Filch thinks the door is locked and—" The Gravekeeper cut himself off, frowning. "Is it me, or is it—_EEEEWWWW!"_

Something large, slimy, and wet had fallen on Malik's shoulder. He reached up, trying to wipe it off and find where it came from at the same time…

"Oh… shit…" he said in a small voice.

Harry, Ron, Bakura, and Atemu turned around… only to see a nightmare standing behind them. It was a dog; an extremely huge, three headed dog that filled the whole room from ceiling to floor. Three pairs of angry looking eyes… three noses, sniffing in their direction… three drooling mouths, saliva dripping from yellowish fangs… Atemu let out a quavering yelp, realizing the only reason they were not dead yet was the fact their sudden appearance had caught it off guard. Its surprise was quickly wearing off, if the low, thunderous growls were any indication…

They had been told of a forbidden corridor during the opening day feast. They were told not to try and go in if they did not want to suffer a most painful death.

Now they knew why.

Harry grabbed the handle of the door, flinging it open. Everyone piled out a moment later, and Harry just barely managed to fling the door closed again before joining the others in barreling down the halls again. Filch must have moved on elsewhere to look for them, but neither of them cared. They ran as fast as they could, back to the Gryffindor common room, even Bakura, half dragging the pharaoh along, as he had yet to let go of the death grip he had on his hand.

A portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress guarded the Gryffindor common room, and she jumped at their sudden appearance, eyeing their robes half hanging off their shoulders and their sweaty faces.

"Where have you been?" she asked. "And what is he doing here; he's a Hufflepuff boy!"

"We don't care," Harry gasped out. "Pig snout. Pig snout."

The portrait swung open at the password, and the five of them piled into the common room, falling into a heap into armchairs or onto the floor. It was a long time before any of them spoke, and it was Atemu that broke the silence, managing to smack Bakura's hand off of his, scowling at him.

"What do you think they're doing, keeping a dog like that?" Ron asked as the tomb robber and the pharaoh got into a staring contest. Bakura broke it after a moment, getting to his feet, obviously in a bad mood from how Atemu brushed him off.

"You don't use your eyes, do 'ya, kid?" he asked. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" Malik suggested dully.

"Ha ha, smart ass," Bakura replied dryly. "Not the floor; it was standing on a trap door. It's a freakin' guard dog."

A thoughtful look crossed Harry's face as the tomb robber stalked out of the room in a huff. Guard dog… it was guarding something… maybe a grubby old package…?

Ron let out a yawn, snapping him out of his thoughts. "I'm going to bed. That was too much adventure for me tonight," he said, already getting up.

Harry went to join him, but Malik put a hand on Atemu's shoulder before he could do the same. The pharaoh raised an eyebrow at the Egyptian, waiting until he heard the door click up in the boy's dorm before asking him what he wanted.

"Maybe it's just me… but ah…" Malik began, clearly trying not to grin. "I dunno if you noticed, but the tomb robber seemed to be flirting with you quite a bit today."

Atemu stared at him like he grew another head. _"Flirting!" _he exclaimed after a moment. "Malik, there's only two things Bakura knows how to do: destroy things, and make my life miserable, and usually these two things coincide with one another. He wouldn't be _flirting _with me."

Malik bit the inside of his mouth to prevent the smile that was trying to creep onto his face. "As you say, pharaoh."


	6. Halloween

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

Sorry about the delay. It... has not been a good week.

Also, to the moron who was nice enough to tell me that I "neglect" my characters: take your condescending additude and shove it. I'm not in the mood for people telling me how to write my stories. That goes for the other people who've begged me to change the pairing to something else, or to add a pairing. Knock it off: I'm not going to fulfill your requests.

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX – HALLOWEEN**

The look on Malfoy's face when a tired but happy Ron and Harry walked into the Great Hall the next morning we beyond priceless. They flopped down at their respective seats along with Yuugi and Malik, Harry filling the other three in about the grubby package that the dog might have been guarding. They concluded that it could be really valuable or dangerous, or even both, but could not deduct what it was without more clues.

Hermione overheard them as they talked about what they had done the night before, and looked positively scandalized.

"You could have been killed, or worse, _expelled!" _she exclaimed. Malik sweatdropped.

"Um, Hermione, I think you have your priorities backwards there…" he said.

"It's really none of your business anyway," Ron replied, giving her a dull look. "Go away."

"Ron!" Yuugi exclaimed accusingly. Ron shrugged as Hermione huffed, going back to her breakfast. She refused to speak to them again, though she was such a bossy know-it-all that most of them saw this as an added bonus.

Just as they were about to start plotting on how to get back and Malfoy for his deception, Bakura slunk over to their table, flopping down next to Yuugi and greeting him with a, "Hello, your worship." Harry's eyes snapped to Yuugi, watching him like a hawk. At first, nothing happened… but after a moment, Yuugi seemed to grow a noticeable inch, his hair becoming a little wilder than it was already. Harry's eyes widened, and he tried to get Ron's attention to point out the change, but the other boy was too preoccupied with his cornflakes.

"What do you want, tomb robber?" Atemu snapped, annoyed. The fact that he could tell Malik was trying not to crack up beside him did not help his mood.

"What, I can't pay my _favorite _pharaoh a visit?" Bakura asked, a very fake smile on his face.

Atemu was about to snap at him irritably, when owls suddenly flooded into the Great Hall to deliver that day's mail, and a large parcel carried by six screech owls caught everyone's attention. Atemu and Bakura turned in their seats just in time to see the owls drop the parcel before Harry, knocking his bacon to the floor. Another owl flittered by with a note that Harry, fortunately, opened first, as Atemu saw when he handed it off to him, Malik and Bakura pressing close to read over his shoulder.

DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.  
It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want  
everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want  
one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field  
at seven o' clock for your first training session.  
_Professor M. McGonagall_

"You've got a bro—"

Bakura was cut off as Atemu smacked a hand over his mouth.

"Yes, he does," he replied, letting go of the tomb robber and wiping his hand off, like he had touched something disgusting.

The five of them got up from the table as soon as Malik and Ron were done stuffing their faces, anxious to unwrap the broom in private before their first class. That was cut a bit short as they ran into Crabbe and Goyle on the way upstairs. Malfoy pushed his way between them and snatched the parcel in Harry's hand, feeling it.

"A broom!" he exclaimed, throwing it back at Harry. "You'll be expelled for sure this time, Potter. First years aren't supposed to have them."

Ron could not resist. "It's not just any broomstick, it's a Nimbus Two Thousand," he said. "What did you say you had at home, Malfoy? A Comet Two Sixty?"

"Shut up, Weasel, you couldn't even afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped.

Before Ron could bite off a comment back at him, Professor Flitwick appeared, clapping Malfoy on the elbow.

"Hello, lads!" he squeaked. "Not arguing, I hope?"

"Potter's been sent a broomstick, professor," Malfoy said quickly, before anyone else could get a word out. He was denied bragging rights on "one upping" Harry, though.

"Ah, yes, Professor McGonagall told me about the special circumstances," Flitwick said, Malfoy's expression turning from surprise to horror. "What model is it?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," Harry answered, trying not to laugh. Bakura was outright sniggering.

"It's thanks to Malfoy that he has it too," Atemu replied off-handedly as they started off to the Gryffindor dorm again, leaving a red faced Draco behind.

They bolted into the Gryffindor common room – the fat lady complained about Bakura's presence again – and ran straight up to the first year boy's dorm. Harry set the parcel on his bed, before wrappings went flying as the five boys unwrapped it, leaving the new broomstick resting on the bed. Bakura whistled softly in appreciation. It was sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle and a long tail of neat, straight twigs. The words "Nimbus Two Thousand" was embossed in gold on the handle, topping it all off nicely.

As much as they wanted to drool over the broom all day, they had classes to get to shortly. Harry carefully stuffed the broomstick under the bed, before hurrying off with the others.

-.oOOo.-

Perhaps it was because they were all so busy with classes and homework, and the boys going to watch Harry and the Gryffindor team practice three nights a week, but Yuugi and the others could hardly believe they had been at Hogwarts for two months. It seemed like a dream, with everything happening in the classes, and the castle was beginning to feel like the next best thing to home.

Individual talents were starting to come out as well by now. Yuugi was showing a great knack at Transfiguration and apparently, that transferred over to his other half, because Atemu threatened to send Bakura back to Japan _as_ a matchbox the last time the tomb robber laid a hand on his rear end. Ryou had taken to Charms quite well, as once Bakura cast a Cheering Charm on the pharaoh in retaliation for a smack (that he deserved). It was an accomplishment that Flitwick had been impressed with when he found out about it, even though it had been rather overdone to the point where the pharaoh had to see Madame Pomfrey to have it removed.

"Well, you looked like you needed to laugh a little!" Bakura had exclaimed when Atemu had him by the collar of his shirt once he got out of the hospital wing.

Malik was showing quite a bit of talent at Potions, despite Professor Snape's obvious dislike for anyone outside of his house, which earned him a few glares when he "out-potioned" Malfoy or any of the other Slytherins. Neither of them had heard or seen much of Kaiba outside the Great Hall; he still did not have his computer, which either meant he did not know about the charm to make it work, or Professor Flitwick refused to cast it on the laptop.

Yuugi and Malik had never been one for Halloween festivities, but when they awoke to the smell of baking pumpkins, it was clear that it was quite a popular celebration in the Wizarding world.

"I guess it's because of the way things are, especially nowadays," Yuugi said as they walked down to breakfast. "Wizards and Witches could probably dress up in their normal robes, and everyone will just think they're in costume."

Malik grinned in amusement as they plopped down at their seats, reaching for their food of choice. Bakura stalked over to the table a moment later, flopping down beside Yuugi… who changed again. Harry had already told Ron that he thought something was strange about Yuugi any time "Ryou" was around, but the red-head had yet to notice a difference, and was starting to think that Harry's extra work load with Quidditch was making him stark-raving nuts.

"Tomb robber, don't you have anything better to do?" Atemu snapped irritably. "Like tormenting the people in _your own house?"_

"Nah, R—I'm friends with them," Bakura replied, barely catching himself in time.

Atemu gave him a dull look. "Since when did that matter to you?"

"Hey, I like the way I'm standing, and I know you know what I mean," Bakura replied, voice dropping to a dangerous tone. A glaring contest between the two of them happened after that, neither of them budging until they had to leave for classes.

"I don't get it," Ron said to Harry privately as they made their way to the first class of the day. "I've talked to some of Ryou's friends, and they say he's really nice. Shy even. The only time they've ever seen him act like he does around Yuugi is when someone harasses him."

"I'm telling you, Ron," Harry replied softly. "There's something funny about them. I know they're our friends, but there's something they're not telling us. Malik obviously knows about it; I've seen him cringe every time Yuugi and Ryou are together."

"You think they're possessed?" Ron suggested.

"I dunno…" Harry answered. "Would Dumbledore let a possessed student into the school?"

They both exchanged helpless looks; Professor Dumbledore was such an odd old man, it was hard to tell what he would and would not do.

Things brightened up when they got to Charms class, and thoughts of their foreign friends being possessed left Harry and Ron's minds. Professor Flitwick was going to show them how to make objects fly, something everyone had been anxious to do since he made Neville's toad zoom about the classroom. It clearly was not easy though; they had been practicing the swish and flick wand movement required for ages, but it did not seem to help. Malik and Yuugi had gotten paired off, and no matter how many times either of them preformed it.

"I think our feather's broken," Malik muttered, poking the white owl feather they were supposed to levitate as Yuugi giggled.

Ron had the misfortune of being paired off with Hermione, and they could hear it from where they were sitting.

"It's Win-_gar-_dium Levi-_o-_sa," Hermione instructed. "Make the _gar _sound nice and long."

Ron slammed his wand down. "You're so clever, you do it then."

"Humph," she replied, rolling up her sleeves, before swishing and flicking her wand. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Almost immediately, the white feather rose up into the air. Professor Flitwick clapped excitedly, drawing everyone's attention to the floating feather, and putting Ron in an even worse mood.

"'It's Win-_GAAR-_dium Levi-_OOO-_sa'," he mimicked as they made their way to their next class. "Honestly, she's a nightmare! It's no wonder she hasn't got any friends!"

Yuugi was nearly knocked over as someone barreled past him. It was Hermione, trying to hide her tear-streaked face behind her bushy hair. Malik smacked Ron on the back of the head.

"Nice going," he said dryly.

Ron looked about as uncomfortable as a boy his age could get after just insulting a girl. It got worse when Hermione did not show up for class the rest of the day, and even more so when they overheard Parvati Patil telling one of her friends that Hermione had been in the bathroom since Charms and wanted to be left alone. Marik glared at Ron afterwards, making the boy squirm where he stood.

As soon as they entered the Great Hall, however, all thoughts of what Ron said about Hermione were dashed from their minds. Thousands of live bats fluttered about the room, covering the enchanted ceiling in a black cloud of squeaks and flaps. The floating candles had been replaced with floating jack-o-lanterns, the flames from the candles inside flickering due to the bats and casting an eerie light on those below. The boys raced over to their table, arriving just as their food appeared. Meats and potatoes and pumpkin juice and something that screeched when you tried to grab it; it was a true Halloween feast.

Ron had been just about to stuff his face with a potato when Professor Quirrell dashed into the hall, his turban all askew and a look of absolute terror on his face. All eyes were on him by the time he got to the Professor's table, gasping for air as Dumbledore stood up.

"T-t-t-troll!" Quirrell wailed. "I-i-i-in th-the d-dungeon! Th-thought you'd a-all l-l-l-like to know…"

There was a _thump_ as Quirrell passed out. Silence reigned for a long moment, before the whole Hall erupted in a symphony of panicked shouts. Malik had an arm over Yuugi, trying to protect him from Gryffindors that were trying to get out of their seats at once. Glancing over his shoulder, he was also able to see Kaiba very calmly get up from his seat and exit the Hall, while Bakura was active at the Hufflepuff table, barking commands to chill out at Ryou's friends, who were trying to grab their food and run. It took several loud bangs erupting from Professor Dumbledore's wand before the Hall quieted down again.

"Prefects," he said, once he had everyone's attention, "lead your houses to your dormitories immediately. Supper will be sent up shortly."

Ron's eldest brother at the school, Percy, jumped up almost immediately, running to the head of the table and shouting for Gryffindor house to follow him. Harry and Ron had gone a bit ahead, leaving Yuugi and Malik scrambling to catch up to them in the crush of people. They were just passing a group of confused Hufflepuffs when Malik felt a hand on his arm stopping him. He whirled around, surprised to see the pharaoh there.

"Hermione," Atemu said, worry obvious on his face, "she doesn't know about the troll."

"What can we do?" Malik asked.

Atemu gave him a look, like he couldn't believe he would ask that. "Find her, of course. C'mon."

The pharaoh waited until he was sure Percy would not notice, before grabbing Malik by his robe sleeve and tugging him into the line of Hufflepuffs going the other way. In all the chaos, it was doubtful anyone noticed they were Gryffindors, and they were easily able to slip into a deserted corridor. Unfortunately, they had picked up a hitchhiker along the way…

"Breaking the rules again, pharaoh?" Bakura asked, pushing Malik out of the way and wrapping an arm around Atemu. "You're gonna be a juvenile delinquent soon. I'm so proud."

"I'm surprised you even know what that means," Atemu snapped, pushing him off. He started off down the corridor, Malik lingering behind a bit while the tomb robber was tailing right after the pharaoh.

"And what are you doing exactly, oh your high and mighty-ness?" he asked. "Being a goody two-shoes and going to fight the troll yourself?"

"No," Atemu snapped. "One of our classmates has been in the bathroom all day. She doesn't know about the troll."

"Ohhhh…" Bakura said knowingly. "Slipping off when we're supposed to be going to our common rooms _and _busting into a girl's bathroom. Wow, you're really sliding down the slope, pharaoh. I'm impressed."

Atemu whirled in the middle of turning a corner, about ready to verbally bitch-slap Bakura for that, when he felt himself whirled back around, a hand over his mouth and an arm wrapped around him tightly. It took him a moment to realize it was the tomb robber that had grabbed him, but before he could struggle, he heard the rush of footsteps that were the reason Bakura had a hand over his mouth. The three of them peeked around the corner just in time to see Snape disappear on his way up to the third floor.

"What's he doing?" Bakura whispered.

"Dunno…" Malik replied.

"Mmmph…" Atemu began, before he reached up and pulled Bakura's hand off. "Do you smell that?"

The Gravekeeper and the tomb robber paused… before looking like they were going to retch as the smell of old socks mixed with a public toilet that no one cleans reached their noses. Malik pinched his, glaring at Bakura.

"Did you fart?"

"He who smelt it, dealt it," Bakura replied dryly.

They both looked down to Atemu…

"Oh, you wish," he snapped.

They tried to turn the corner again… and saw the reason for the horrid smell down the way. It looked like a giant moving boulder; twelve feet tall with grayish skin and a head the size of a coconut plunked on the massive lump that was its body. It plodded along on short, stumpy legs and dragged a large club behind it; it's arms almost as long as it was tall.

"I don't think I dealt _that," _Atemu replied as the troll eyed an open door down the way, before squeezing itself inside.

"Yeah, I'd like to see you shit _that _out…" Bakura said, making a face at the mental image.

They started to move away when they heard something that made them skid to a halt: a loud, high-pitched scream coming from the room the troll had disappeared into.

"_Hermione!" _they exclaimed at once, dashing off for the room.

Hermione was pressed back against the far wall of the room, in hysterics, her screams just bringing the troll even closer to her. It was swinging its club, knocking off sinks left and right as it lumbered toward her. The sound of their feet echoing off the walls made it pause, though, and it turned around to look down at them.

"I think we're outta our league…" Malik gulped, taking a step back.

"A little late to say that now, don't you think?" Bakura growled, also stepping back… but Atemu still stood forward, shaking off his robes.

"Get Hermione out of here!" he exclaimed… running straight for the troll.

"Oy, pharaoh!" Bakura exclaimed, reaching a hand out to try and stop him. "Are you off your fucking nut?"

The tomb robber was too late, though; Atemu took a running leap and latched onto the troll's arm, trying to resist the urge to gag at the smell. The troll swiveled its head down at him, blinking at him as if he could not figure out why he was there, before raising its club and trying to swat at him. Atemu grabbed a roll of flesh on its back, scurrying away and letting the troll hit its own arm.

As the creature wailed over hurting itself, Malik took that moment to dash forward, quickly passing under it and over to Hermione. She clutched at him as he bent over to help her up, clearly terrified.

"C'mon, move," Malik hissed when she would not get up. "Move!"

His voice caught the troll's attention and it started to turn… so Atemu did the only thing he could think of: scramble up the troll's back and cram his wand up its nose. The creature bellowed in rage, flailing about until Atemu lost his grip and fell off, catching him by the leg as he fell.

"_ATEMU!" _Bakura shouted, trying to think of something he could do.

The troll reared back, swinging his club mightily, a blow that Atemu just narrowly missed by worming to the side.

"Someone do something!" he shouted, bracing himself for another attack.

Malik ripped his wand out of his robes, shouting the first spell that popped into his head. _"Wingardium Leviosa!"_

The troll had just reared back to take another swing at Atemu, but its club suddenly disappeared. It stared at its hand stupidly as the club floated up, turned over, and landed squarely on the creature's pea-sized head. The troll teetered a bit before falling over with a wall trembling thud, sending the pharaoh flying, arms flailing as if it would help. Bakura raced forward, catching him.

Something… rather odd happened for Atemu at that moment. It was like one of those animated shows his aibou would watch: the person in danger would get rescued, and the scenery would suddenly become a kaleidoscope of colors, focusing on the rescuer's smiling face as they asked if the person was all right. He stared, feeling his heart skip a beat. Right now, Bakura had a rather nice smile and…

_What the _heck _are you _thinking

Yuugi's words in his mind, as well as the crack to his skull as he and Bakura landed against the wall, helped bring Atemu back to reality. He winced and held his head, cracking an eye open to see the tomb robber had received similar treatment. Across the way, Malik was helping a trembling Hermione finally get to her feet. They stared at the troll between them, before a quavering voice broke the silence.

"Is… is it dead…?" Hermione asked, clinging to Malik.

"I don't think so," Bakura said, standing up straight and setting Atemu back on his feet. "S'just unconscious. Let's go bef—"

The tomb robber was cut off by a startled gasp. They all whirled or looked up to see Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway, looking absolutely horrified. Bakura muttered something along the lines of, "too late," as the professor struggled to find her words. Snape and Quirrell arrived behind her a moment later, the latter taking one look at the unconscious troll and quickly shrinking away.

"Explain this!" McGonagall finally streaked, pointing to the unconscious troll. The boys exchanged looks; even Bakura was at a loss for a plausible excuse.

"It was my fault, professor," Hermione said suddenly, making Malik jump in surprise. "I thought I could defeat the troll… because I had read so much about them. If… it weren't for the others… I'd probably be dead."

Atemu and Bakura tried to make it sound like this was not new to them, though the tomb robber pulled that expression off better.

"W…well…" Professor McGonagall began as Snape glared at them over her shoulder. "That was very foolish of you! Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this."

Hermione hung her head.

"Now, if you're not hurt at all, Miss Granger, I suggest you go up to Gryffindor Tower."

She left, leaving the boys with the three professors, who found themselves shuffling a little closer to one another, worried about what would happen to them…

"As for you three…" McGonagall began. "Well… I say you were lucky. But… not many first years can take on a fully-grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. Five points will be rewarded to each of you. Now, Mr. Mutou, get your… wand… and go to your common rooms."

They left, not speaking until they were two floors up, and far away from the smell of troll. Bakura stopped where he would have to break off to go to the Hufflepuff common room, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Just five points?" he asked. "We should have gotten more than that."

"We're just lucky to be alive, Bakura," Malik replied. Atemu had been rather quiet since they left, and was making a point of not looking at the tomb robber.

"True," he replied. "Lucky that girl got us out of trouble, otherwise we'd probably be packing our bags. Well, see you tomorrow."

He waved as he walked off, Malik and Atemu heading off a moment later. They gave the password to the Fat Lady, and the portrait swung open to reveal a noisy common room, filled with Gryffindor students eating and laughing. Hermione had waited for them by the door, and she looked up at Malik a bit shyly.

"Thank you," she murmured, before hurrying off to get food.

Malik felt a blush creeping up onto his face. "Y…you're welcome…"


	7. Malik's Rod

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

This chapter was surprisingly easy to write; I'm kinda shocked to put a complete chapter out while it's still light out. o.o;;

Enjoy; and if anyone is dumb enough to ask me who the kid is at the end of the chapter, I'll smack them with a Rod. XP

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN – MALIK'S ROD**

November came crisp and cold, covering the grounds every morning in a layer of frost so thick, it looked like it had snowed to someone looking out the window from someplace high up. More often than not, Hagrid was spotted defrosting the brooms by the Quidditch field to help accommodate the Gryffindor captain, Oliver Wood's, sudden insane practice schedule.

To say that Wood was obsessed with Harry's natural talent as a Seeker was a bit of an understatement. As the days wore on, he found himself dragged out into the bitter cold, sometimes alone, with a smiling Wood ready and waiting to put him through his paces. Harry supposed it was for the best, but it was still murder.

He supposed it was lucky that Hermione had become friendlier with him and Ron since Malik and the others rescued her. Without her help, he thought for sure he would have fallen behind in the school. She helped write out study sheets for him when he was too busy to sit with his notes, and looked over his and Ron's homework when they were done with it.

Snape had been acting rather suspicious, Harry had noticed. He had noticed him limping about ever since the incident with the troll, and he seemed twice as irritable as before. Admittedly, though, he had not counted on ever finding out _why _Snape was the way he was now; he had gone to the Potion's Master's office to get a book back he had taken away for no reason… only to see Snape and Filch inside. Snape's robes were hitched up over his knees, revealing a blood and mangled leg.

"Blasted thing; how are you supposed to keep an eye on all three heads at once?" he was saying as the caretaker handed him some bandages. Harry had attempted to leave quietly, but he was spotted, and yelled out of the office.

Ron had agreed with him that it must have been Snape that let the troll in at Halloween to distract the other professors while he went up to the forbidden corridor on the third floor to take whatever the three-headed dog was guarding. Yuugi and Malik were not so sure, while Hermione outright refused to believe it.

"I know he's not nice, but he wouldn't try to steal something Professor Dumbledore was trying to keep safe!" she exclaimed.

"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints…" Ron grumbled.

In addition to problems with teachers, there were problems amongst themselves as well. Harry noticed that Yuugi would not change anymore when "Ryou" came over to sit with them, something that made Bakura leave with a disappointed look on his face. Hermione had noticed the change as well, pointing out some of the instances when she had spotted the two of them not acting like themselves.

"Ryou called Yuugi 'Atemu' in the bathroom while they were fighting off the troll," she said once. "And I sincerely doubt that's another nickname."

The day of the first Quidditch match of the season dawned bright and cold, and a queasy stomach that made Harry blanch at the mere mention of food replaced thoughts of three headed dogs and possessed friends.

"C'mon, Harry, you gotta eat something, or you're gonna pass out on your broom," Malik said, dropping some bacon on his plate. Yuugi was noticeably absent that morning, and Harry could spot Ryou scowling at that fact even though he was all the way at the Hufflepuff table.

Harry weakly picked up a strip of bacon, nibbling on it. "I'm afraid I'll be sick on my broom if I eat anything…" he said. "The fact people have been saying they'll be running under me with a mattress hasn't helped."

"Just ignore them, Harry," Ron encouraged, nudging a piece of toast at him. "C'mon, you'll need your strength. Seekers are usually the ones that get knocked out first."

"Thanks Ron," Harry said, trying not to sound sarcastic. "Really."

-.oOOo.-

Yuugi was lying in bed, staring up at the red canopy of his four-poster bed, his arms crossed behind his head. He had decided to stay in for a while, claiming he was not feeling well to Malik, who had poked his head in before leaving for breakfast. Really, though, he was lost in thoughts, most of them surrounding the pharaoh that shared residence in his body.

Since the incident with the troll, Atemu had grown rather quiet and withdrawn, not coming out long enough to speak with him very often. It worried Yuugi, mostly because he had never really seen the spirit act like he was. He was used to seeing him being strong and independent and… well, the thought of the pharaoh still being a teenager had crossed his mind once or twice, but it did not seem very… Atemu-ish.

_Aibou, _came the pharaoh's voice suddenly, _Harry-kun has his first match today._

_I know, _Yuugi replied, rolling over and hugging his pillow. _I'm worried about you, though._

_About me? _the spirit asked, sounding surprised. _I'm fine._

_Liar, _Yuugi accused, pouting slightly. _You've been off daydreaming worse than a girl lately._

Yuugi felt a distinct warmth coming from his other self, and he was slightly glad that he was not looking into their Soul Rooms. He did not know how he would handle seeing the pharaoh blush.

_Daijoubu, daijoubu… _Atemu muttered. _You don't need to worry about me. You should go on, before you're late._

Yuugi frowned, already feeling the pharaoh starting to retreat. Without thinking, he reached into his mind, grabbing the pharaoh and launching him into control.

_No, you're going to be late! _he exclaimed, quickly closing and locking his Soul Door before Atemu could retaliate. Not that the pharaoh could right away, anyway; Yuugi had tossed him out with such force that he found himself rolling off the bed and landing on the ground with a painful _thud!_

"Oy, aibou!" he exclaimed aloud, even though he knew it would not do him any good. Dammit, he had done the same thing once before, forcing him into a date with Anzu. That alone had been awkward enough; now he was on his own in a magic school?

…he was _doooooooomed._

Grumbling to himself, Atemu crawled back to his feet and got dress, pulling on his robes and going to head downstairs, before he stopped, something catching his attention. It was Yuugi's trunk at the foot of his bed, where he kept all the extra things he had brought with him that he really did not need, in addition to the Millennium Items, buried under all that junk. Oh, it looked normal enough as always… except for the slight problem that something was _glowing _inside.

The pharaoh went over to the trunk, throwing up the lid and pushing the junk out of the way, revealing that the glow as indeed coming from inside the duffle bag full of Millennium Items. He unzipped it, wincing as it fell open, the glow nearly blinding him.

"Great," Atemu muttered. "On top of everything else, the Items are going haywire."

He reached in, grabbing the first Item his hand encountered: the Millennium Rod. As soon as he pulled it out of the bag, though, it stopped glowing, looking as deceptively innocent as usual. The pharaoh sweatdropped at it, staring at it accusingly; that really did not help solve matters any. He shook his head after a moment, hooking the Item into his belt, hiding it behind his back, before replacing everything that had been piled on top of the other Items and closing the trunk.

A few moments later, he was racing down to the Great Hall, hoping that he was not too late…

"Nooo…!" he groaned, bursting into the empty hall. To add insult to injury, his stomach decided to groan in protest at that moment, making him grimace. This just was not his day…

He turned to perhaps attempt to find a teacher that was still indoors… only to smack headlong into someone's chest. Atemu fell back, landing on his rear end with a _thump, _holding his head and muttering an, "excuse me".

"What are you still doing inside?" a familiar voice demanded.

Atemu mentally groaned. This _really _was not his day…

"Kaiba…!" he exclaimed, smiling and laughing nervously… before he asked bluntly, "You wouldn't happen to know where the kitchens are, would you?"

Seto Kaiba raised a critical eyebrow at the pharaoh… but a few moments later, they were standing outside a painting of a bowl full of fruit, with the taller boy reaching up to tickle a green pear. The fruit wiggled, chuckling, before finally turning into a door with a green handle. Kaiba pulled it open, letting Atemu enter first.

The pharaoh jumped in surprise at what he saw on the other side, however. There were dozens of well-dressed, knobby green creatures flitting about. They chatted quietly amongst themselves as they cooked and cleaned up their workspace and cooked some more, bobbing their large heads, pointed ears flopping slightly with the movement.

"House elves," Kaiba provided, making Atemu jump. "Apparently they're some sort of servants; from what I gather, it's what they live for."

One of the elves scurried over to them, bowing. "What can I get for you, sirs?" he asked, his voice coming out squeaky and high-pitched.

"Um… some breakfast?" Atemu asked. "Bacon… toast…"

"Coffee," Kaiba replied.

The elf scurried off as another led them to a table to sit at in the middle of the kitchen. Barely a moment later, the first elf returned with a coffee for Kaiba and a plate filled with bacon and eggs and toast for Atemu as well as a tall glass of pumpkin juice. The pharaoh blinked at it in surprise, tentatively taking up his fork as Kaiba sipped at his coffee.

"I thought you would be out at the field watching the Quidditch game," he said idly after a moment.

Atemu managed to swallow his eggs before replying. "My aibou is worried about me, so he insisted on laying in bed to talk to me, before kicking me out into the real world," he replied dully.

Kaiba raised an amused eyebrow, making Atemu regret telling him that much. An unreadable look appeared on the taller boy's face a moment later, and the pharaoh was starting to wonder if he should go running for his deck… when Kaiba reached into his school bag, pulling out a chess board instead.

"Care for a game of Wizard's Chess?" he asked as he handed him a set of pieces, an odd tone in his voice that the pharaoh could not quite place.

Atemu gave him a look, confused, trying to get what exactly he was getting at. Whatever it was, he was confident he could beat Kaiba at whatever game he set before him. He took the set and plopped the pieces down where they were supposed to go, Kaiba doing the same with his.

As soon as they started however, Atemu was quickly finding that Wizard's Chess was quite different from normal chess. One of his Knights kept yelling at him, telling him what moves he should make. He ignored it though, directing the pieces where he felt they should go while finishing off his breakfast, and he quickly had Kaiba in check. Seto took it all in stride, calmly commanding his pieces with all the grace of a commander directing his troops. None of his pieces talked back to him, which had Atemu slightly jealous, but he did not show it.

"You know…" Kaiba began suddenly as Atemu took his turn. "When playing chess, it's easy to tell when a person is distracted even in the slightest."

"What makes you say that?" the pharaoh asked, narrowing his eyes as he finished his turn.

Kaiba just smiled that overbearing and cocky smile of his, taking his turn, and…

"Check mate."

Atemu blinked rapidly. "Eh?" he exclaimed, staring at the board… before sweatdropping as his King fell over in mock death and his Knight shook a fist up at him, yelling, "I told you so!" The pharaoh sighed, looking up to Kaiba, waiting for the bragging to start.

While the insufferable smirk of his did not go away, the young businessman did not start bragging, much to Atemu's obvious surprise. Kaiba calmly packed away the board and the pieces, before settling back, eyes narrowed.

"There's no point to it if my rival isn't up to his normal level of performance."

Atemu's sweatdrop grew; Kaiba was not expecting him to spill about something he did not even want to talk to his other half about, was he? Besides, the taller boy was the last person that could even ever understand his situation. As far as he was concerned, Seto had all the emotion of a brick.

If the expectant look on his face was any indication though… Atemu groaned privately as Kaiba took a sip of his coffee.

"So, what is it?" he asked idly as Atemu drank from his pumpkin juice. "Three thousand years worth of hormones catching up to you?"

Whatever amount of liquid that had been in the pharaoh's mouth went flying at that. "What! _NO!" _he exclaimed. Maybe it was the fact that his face had turned bright red, but Kaiba did not look convinced. "Even if it is, it's none of your business anyway!"

Atemu stood up, pushing his seat away before going to stalk out of the kitchen.

"Pharaoh."

He whirled around, still red in the face. "What!"

Kaiba had a very calm smirk on his face. "Your back is glowing."

Atemu stared at him blankly a moment, before he remembered he had the Millennium Rod tucked away behind his back. He reached back, pulling the Rod out and staring at it as it glowed faintly, catching Kaiba raising an eyebrow at the site of the object out of the corner of his eye. The pharaoh tightened his grip on it a moment, before tossing it to the other boy. Kaiba jerked back slightly, hand snapping out to catch it before it hit him in the face.

Atemu did not pause to find out how he reacted; he stormed out of the kitchen and out of the castle, heading toward the Quidditch field. If he was lucky, maybe he would be able to at the very least catch the end of the match. As he got closer, though, he could hear startled shouts over the sound of jeers… He frowned, picking up the pace as he looked up above the stadium. Was someone dangling from their broom…?

The pharaoh broke out into a run, fearing the worst as the shouts of surprise got louder, the person holding onto their broom suddenly diving down. Slipping into the stadium, Atemu climb up over to an open space just in time to see Harry hit the ground.

"Harry!" he called out to him as the boy shakily got to his feet, holding his stomach like he was going to be sick. He brought his hands up to his mouth, letting out a horrid sounding cough… as something bright and gold fell into his hands.

"I caught the snitch!" Harry exclaimed, waving the golden ball over his head.

-.oOOo.-

"He didn't _catch _it, he damn near _swallowed _it!"

Marcus Flint, the captain of the opposing Slytherin team, was still complaining about the end of the game a half hour later to anyone that would listen to him. Not than many people outside of Slytherin house were; most were too ecstatic over the spectacular Gryffindor win that they did not care either way. Besides, Harry had not broken and rules, so the Slytherin captain could not really contest the results.

Harry did not hear any of it, though. He was getting a steaming cup of tea at Hagrid's hut on the grounds of the school.

"We saw him, Harry," Malik said, after filling in Atemu. Harry's broomstick had suddenly starting acting weird right in the middle of the game, nearly sending him falling down to his death. "Snape was staring up at you, muttering. He cursed your broom!"

"Rubbish!" Hagrid exclaimed, plunking down a rock cake before each of them. "Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student!"

Bakura suddenly entered at that moment, making Atemu jump a good foot in the air. He eyed the pharaoh a moment, before looking to Harry.

"You all right, kid?" he asked, getting a muttered, "yeah" in reply.

"Hagrid, we saw him!" Hermione protested despite Bakura's sudden appearance, the game's events changing her mind about the Potion's Master. "In order to perform a jinx powerful enough to affect a broomstick, you can't break eye contact, and _Snape wasn't blinking!"_

"I'm tellin' yeh, he wouldn' do summat like that!" Hagrid replied. "Why would he?"

The boys exchanged nervous looks, not sure how to tell him. Atemu decided on being blunt about it, explaining how they had seen Snape going off to the third floor on Halloween, and how Harry had seen that his leg had been mangled. When he mentioned the three-headed dog in the forbidden corridor, however, the groundskeeper was furious.

"How do you lot know about Fluffy?" he demanded.

Bakura sweatdropped. _"Fluffy!" _he exclaimed. "Why the _hell _did you name a three-headed dog _Fluffy!"_

"Well, 'cause he wasn't nearly as much 'a a beast as Fang there growin' up."

Hagrid waved to where a black-furred mutt was reclining on an armchair. The dog looked at them before yawning lazily and rolling over. Everyone sweatdropped as the groundskeeper pointed a finger at them, as if to drive what he had to say home.

"Now listen, the pair 'a yeh," he began. "Yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin'; that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel—"

"Ah ha!" Harry exclaimed. "So there's someone named Flamel involved, is there?"

Hagrid looked furious with himself, and ended up chasing them out of his small hut a moment later. Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Malik rushed ahead toward the castle, talking excitedly amongst themselves, an unconscious arm from the Gravekeeper coming around to rest about Hermione's shoulders. Atemu smiled softly as he watched them discussing whom Nicolas Flamel might be… feeling a bit detached. He was beginning to notice he was feeling like this often as of late, like he did not have a place in the real world…

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned around to see Bakura there. The pharaoh shrugged him off quickly, annoyed.

"What?" he demanded, not looking at him and missing the bitter frown on the tomb robber's face.

"Just rather disappointed you've been avoiding me, your highness-ness," he snapped. "What, afraid I might bite you?"

"All things considered, I wouldn't be surprised," Atemu replied dryly.

Bakura grabbed his arm, and before the pharaoh could protest, had pulled him close, an arm wrapping around his waist. Atemu turned _bright _red, though the look of contempt on the tomb robber's face quashed the blush quickly, helping him in glaring at him.

"You're pathetic, your worship," the tomb robber growled irritably. "Hanging around, letting your host dictate your life, not even bothering to check around and see if there's any way you can try and get your own body using the magic of this world we've stumbled into."

"Wh-what?" Atemu asked, blinking in surprise. "My own… Why would I want to do that!"

Bakura stared at him, like he could not believe he would even think of a question like that. "I dunno, maybe so you can have your own _life!" _he shot back, irritated. "You know, it's only a matter of time before that runt doesn't need you any more, before you start becoming a burden to him. And then what are you going to do? What am…"

He trailed off, giving Atemu an unreadable expression, before pushing him away, stalking off toward the castle. The pharaoh stumbled a bit before he steadied himself, watching the tomb robber's back as he pounded off, kicking at the ground in irritation. He waited until Bakura was out of sight, before Atemu sank down to his knees, the tall grass tickling at his chest and a sad expression on his face.

Truth be told, despite the fact Yuugi did not want to let him go, he already had no use for him…

…so… what _would _happen when he became a burden…?

-.oOOo.-

Filch grumbled to himself as he worked late into the night, cleaning up some disgusting muck that one of the students had left behind in the armor gallery. It was probably those damn Weasley twins again; if he could prove it, he would love to drag those mischievous brats into the dungeons… chain them up and leave them hanging upside down like he used to be able to do back in the day. He sighed; those were the good ole' days…

The sound of approaching footsteps cut him off from his thoughts, and he looked up to see which teacher it was… but, to both his surprise and glee, it was not a professor. Though the lad was tall enough and had dark enough hair to pass off for Professor Snape, the student's robes with the Ravenclaw crest gave him away too easily.

"Rather brave, are yeh?" he asked as the boy stopped. "Wanderin' the halls right in front of me…"

Even years later, Filch would never be able to remember what happened next. There was a flash of golden light, and he was back to cleaning the muck left behind, all recollections of a Ravenclaw boy approaching him in the night erased from his memory…


	8. Christmas

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

Sorry about the gap in updates. I'm starting to work on another video game based on my favorite two characters from Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. Hopefully I'll actually be able to finish this one.

Anyway, enjoy the new chapter. And no complaining about how it ends. XP

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT – CHRISTMAS**

Malik could not help but turn around in his seat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall and stare at the Ravenclaw table behind him. Over the course of the weeks following Harry's mid-air dangling, the young wizard and Yuugi both had been noticing that Kaiba was… well, being _friendly. _Malik did not want to believe it at first, but the fact that Kaiba was currently sitting amongst whom had obviously become his friends, chatting amiably…

"He snapped," Malik muttered, sweatdropping as the young businessman stuffed a whole piece of toast in his mouth in a very un-Kaiba-like manner.

"I told you so," Harry said, watching over his shoulder.

"I think it's great that he's finally loosening up," Hermione said happily from beside Malik. "He was such a prude."

Malik and Yuugi exchanged worried looks. They knew better; when someone's personality suddenly took a dramatic one-eighty, it was usually because that someone was not in charge of their body anymore. Speaking of which… Bakura chose that moment to come over and flop down next to Yuugi, waving a hand toward the Ravenclaw table.

"Anyone worried about the human garbage can over there?" he asked.

"Human garbage can?" Ron asked around a mouthful of bacon.

"Um-hum," Bakura replied, swiping a piece for himself. "I've caught him in the kitchen more than once, always leaving with food crumbs around his mouth. Not to mention he's being very not like Kaiba," he added, giving Yuugi and Malik a pointed look.

"Well, maybe he's decided to try to be friendlier to people," Hermione said.

Bakura, Yuugi, and Malik exchanged looks. Kaiba was not the type to suddenly be nice and friendly, but they did not get the chance to point it out before the bell rang, indicating the start of class. As people started to get out of their seats and head off to their classes, the three of them lingered behind, watching Kaiba as he clumsily gathered his belongings.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Atemu whispered, switching places.

"Oh, hooray for over used movie lines," Malik commented dryly. "Okay, why do you have a bad feeling?"

Atemu rubbed the back of his neck. "Umm… well… I ah… kinda gave Kaiba the Rod…"

The two of them stared at him like he grew another head. _"You did what!"_

He winced, holding up his hands. "The Millennium Items have been glowing ever since the Quidditch match; maybe even before that. I took the Rod with me in hopes of finding out why. It started glowing again when Kaiba and I were… 'talking'. I was mad at him, so I just… threw it at him."

"Oh how very pharaoh-ish of you," Bakura replied dryly.

"What if the other me is still in there?" Malik hissed softly. "I know you sent him to the Shadows, but what if a piece of him remained behind in the Rod?"

"I… didn't think of that."

"_Obviously!"_

"Hey, guys, what's up?"

The three of them whirled around and _eep_ed softly when they saw Kaiba behind them… smiling bright and cheerfully. He let out a sound that was as close to a giggle as the young businessman could get, making all three of them take a big step backwards.

"Erm… Kaiba…" Malik began warily. "How… have you been feeling lately…?"

"Anyone hit you on the head really hard?" Bakura ask bluntly.

Kaiba blinked, looking almost adorably confused. "No… why would they?"

The three of them laughed nervously; okay, no way in hell was this the same Kaiba they were used to dealing with. Before they could press further to find out just _whom _they were talking to, however, Kaiba started off, waving to them.

"Don't be late for class!" he called cheerfully.

-.oOOo.-

The first snow fell shortly after that incident, blanketing the grounds of Hogwarts in several feet of fluffy white snow. It was a bit of a shock for Atemu and Bakura: the winters they witnessed in Japan had all been mild, with next to no snowfall. The tomb robber quickly got over his shock, however, and was pegging the pharaoh with snowballs at every opportunity, sometimes enlisting the aid of the Weasley twins. They got in trouble once with Professor McGonagall, however; the twins had enchanted some snowballs into floating around behind Atemu indoors, plunking him in the back of the head. After that, they made sure to keep their fun outside, much to the pharaoh's displeasure.

Of course, cold snowy days also meant time next to a warm fire. Harry and Ron caught Malik sitting in front of the fireplace in the common room one night, Hermione curled up next to him with her head resting in his lap. The results of that… were less than pretty…

"I would have killed them," Malik snarled after telling Yuugi what had happened, wiping cream from his face and hair. "They're lucky Kaiba has the Rod now. Screw the Shadow Realm, I would have just killed them."

Christmas approached, and a sign-up sheet was passed around for those who would need to stay at the school for the holiday. Yuugi, Malik, and Ryou signed up right away, neither of them wanting to go through the hassle of having to take the train ride back to London and then a plane back to Japan. Harry and the Weasley brothers also signed up; the Weasleys had to because their parents were going to Romania to visit their elder brother Charlie for the holiday. Harry did not have to stay at the school, but he said he wanted to – he did not want to have to spend another depressing Christmas at his home on Privet Drive.

"I'm pretty sure all I'll hear from Uncle Vernon is how I'm a freak of nature," he said in Potions the Friday before break, measuring out powdered spine of lionfish.

"Don't let it bother you so much, Harry-kun," Yuugi encouraged, stirring the contents of their cauldron. "You know that you're not. Hey, Malik-kun, pass the spider legs."

"Yugi-kun, how are you going to do your Christmas shopping this year?" Malik asked, handing over a small box with some spider legs poking over the edge.

"I sent 'Jii-chan a list of things I wanted to get and told him to take it out of my allowance," Yuugi explained, handing the box to Harry to take out what they needed. "He's been putting my allowance aside since we left for this country."

"Oh, so you should have stuff showing up soon, hunh?" Ron asked. Yuugi raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, no jumping the owl before it can give me everything to wrap," he warned. "I won't forgive you if you peek."

They did not find out until after Potions ended that day, that Kaiba was also staying for winter break. Most of the students that were leaving that evening were already packed, but the tall boy smiled at them warmly as they entered the Great Hall for lunch, waving and saying he hoped to see them over the holidays. Malik and Yuugi smiled in return… but once they were settled down at their seats, they exchanged weirded out looks.

"I'm scared," Malik murmured.

"Me too," Yuugi agreed as Hermione came up, tugging her trunk behind her.

"Have a good holiday, everyone," she said warmly. "You will keep looking in the library while I'm gone, wont you?"

They had been searching in the library for who Nicolas Flamel might be ever since Hagrid let it slip that he was involved with whatever that three-headed dog was guarding. So far, they had not had any luck, but they were determined to keep searching, especially Harry. He swore he had seen his name before, and poured over every book he could find, trying to remember where he had seen it.

"We'll do our best," Malik said, standing up to give her a hug.

"Anyway, Hermione, why don't you ask your parents who Flamel is?" Ron asked. "It should be safe to ask them."

Malik glared at him as Hermione giggled. "Yes, very safe. They're both dentists."

-.oOOo.-

The first day of Christmas holidays was bright and cold, and found Atemu aimlessly wandering about the grounds, so lost in thought he surprised himself when he shivered from the cold. What surprised him more though, was when he found an extra winter robe draped over his shoulders, a Hufflepuff badge on the front. He turned quickly, almost smacking a grinning Bakura in the face with his hair.

"Careful, your worship," he said. "Wouldn't want to get a royal cold before Christmas now."

Atemu frowned at him, but tugged the robe a bit closer to himself. "Thanks," he replied. They started walking off together after a moment, Bakura clasping his hands behind his back, not looking the least bit cold despite the weather.

"It's colder here than in the desert, 'ya know?" he asked after a moment. "Probably 'cause it's wet and cold at the same time."

"Mmm…" Atemu agreed.

Bakura glanced at him out of the corner of his eye before he stopped, forcing Atemu to as well. "Look, pharaoh, I'm sorry I blew up on you after the Quidditch game."

Atemu raised both eyebrows. This was a first… the tomb robber, apologizing! He almost wished he had a calendar handy so he could mark this day down on it.

"What was that all about?" he asked, trying not to let his amusement at his previous train of thought show.

Bakura looked uncomfortable for a moment; obviously, as he was not the type to just bare his soul, especially to someone he had been at odds with for the past few thousand years. Finally he put his hands on his hips, looking Atemu square in the eye, his gaze almost making the shorter man fidget.

"Pharaoh, if Dumbledore hadn't stepped in, what would you be doing right now?"

The pharaoh blinked in surprise, totally caught off guard. "Well… I… I wouldn't. Before now, Yuugi would have gone to Egypt and… put me to rest," he said.

"I knew it…" Bakura muttered, before saying louder. "Are you okay with that? Just dying?"

"Just dying?" Atemu echoed. "Bakura, I'm already dead. You're already dead."

Bakura held up a finger. "No, we're not, pharaoh," he said, continuing quickly before Atemu could object. "We're still alive. We still exist; as long as our souls are still intact we are still living, breathing people."

"How can you say that when we have to survive on someone else _to _exist?" Atemu objected. "We're parasites, Bakura, whether we like it or not. Our bodies died ages ago—"

"But _we _still _exist," _Bakura repeated. "We still feel and breathe and live. We're still _people."_

"But…"

"Pharaoh, aren't you entitled to having a life?"

Atemu paused, blinking. A life…? The only life he had known was… well, with Yuugi… and before that, it was living in the palace and protecting his country. He had lived his life as best he could, but it had been short. It… was supposed to be short. That was his fate; he was not about to argue with it. Bakura seemed to sense where his train of thought was going because he grabbed him by his face.

"You can't honestly tell me you're content with being a slave to your fate," he snapped, pushing him away and turning to leave.

Atemu stumbled a bit, barely able to catch his balance as he caught sight of Bakura bending down. That was the only warning he got, before he suddenly found a snowball in his face. He growled in irritation, wiping the cold powder away from his face, before kneeling down to scoop some up; that was _it! _He had _had _it!

Next thing Bakura knew, a snowball was splatting against his chest, thrown by a rather irate pharaoh. He smirked, scooping up another snowball, and before either of them knew it, they were in the middle of an all out snow war. Atemu was ducking under Bakura's throws, aiming in his own attacks at Bakura's chest and back. The tomb robber was taking it all in stride, not even really trying to hit him, just enjoying watching the pharaoh take all his frustration out on him.

Finally though, he got tired of the little game, and rushed toward Atemu, catching him off guard and tackling him into the snow. The pharaoh yelped as they rolled down a small hill, getting soaked with snow as they went, before they settled near Hagrid's pumpkin patch… with Bakura on top. He stared up at the tomb robber, eyes wide with surprise.

Bakura grinned, settling his hands over Atemu's arms lightly, staring down at him. "See?"

"See what?" Atemu replied, adding mentally, _Besides you on… nonononononooooo! Not right!_

The tomb robber smirked. "You get angry. You feel cold, and pain… you blush."

Atemu turned redder when he said that. "So?"

"You still _feel," _Bakura said softly. "Doesn't that mean you're still alive?"

The pharaoh stared up at him in surprise, blinking. He groped for the right words to say… but found himself at a loss, his expression turning rather dumb looking. Bakura chuckled, but before he could say or do anything else…

"What'r yeh two doin' there?"

Bakura looked up as Atemu leaned his head back… and groaned. There was what looked like a walking tree behind them, but anyone that had been paying attention at Hogwarts knew better.

"Hi, Hagrid," they said at the same time, before Bakura answered, "Nothing really."

Hagrid did not look convinced, though that might have been because Atemu was blushing hard enough to melt the snow around him. The giant set his tree down as the boys got up, and ended up scrambling off as Hagrid shooed them away. They did not stop running until they reached the short steps leading into the castle, brushing each other off before entering the school.

"Umm… here," Atemu said, taking the robe off and handing it back to Bakura. The tomb robber took it, slinging it over his shoulder. "Thanks."

Bakura looked down at him, expression unreadable. "Don't die," he said, turning and starting off up the front foyer stairs, heading off to the Hufflepuff common room. Atemu watched him go, face neutral for a moment… before he smiled softly.

-.oOOo.-

Harry turned over in his bed on Christmas day; he knew it was a special day that day, but he was not counting on getting anything, so he had every intention of sleeping in that morning. Happy shouts woke him up earlier than he planned, however, and he groggily sat up… only to see a small collection of presents at the foot of his bed.

"I've got presents!" he exclaimed, suddenly very awake.

"What did you expect?" Ron asked from his bed, opening up some parcels of his own.

Harry beamed, before grabbing the top most package, tearing it apart to reveal a roughly whittled flute and a note from Hagrid wishing him a Merry Christmas. He blew into it, grinning privately as it let out a sound reminiscent of an owl. He went for the next parcel and saw Yuugi grin happily.

"That's my present; I hope you like it," he said, and Harry ripped the bright packaging apart to reveal a starter deck of Duel Monsters cards.

Harry's eyes widened. "Are you going to teach me how to play?" he asked excitedly.

"Of course!"

The four of them continued opening their presents. Ones labeled "From Hermione" mostly contained chocolate frogs or Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, but Malik's obviously contained something different, judging from the sudden blush that came to his cheeks. The others tried to get a peek inside the box, but he snapped it closed before anyone could get a good look, the red tint never leaving his face as he set it aside.

Ron blushed as Harry and Yuugi each went for a large package in nondescript brown paper wrapping.

"Oh, no… mum sent you Weasley sweaters," he moaned.

"Weasley sweaters?" Yuugi asked.

"Yeah," Ron glowered, opening one with his name on it. "Mum always makes us sweaters for Christmas. Mine's _always _maroon."

Everyone opened their "Weasley sweaters"; Yuugi got a purple one, Malik got a lavender one, and Harry got a green one. Yuugi laughed happily, pulling the sweater over his head, his hair flopping out over the top before pulling it down over his face.

"Wow, these are warm!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah, warm…" Ron muttered, picking at his maroon colored one.

Harry chuckled, going for the last of his packages. He frowned; it was very light, almost like there was nothing inside, and when he tore about the packaging, something silvery and fluid slid out and onto his lap. Ron's eyes widened.

"Is that…?" he asked softly. Harry frowned, gripping the edge of the fabric and pulling it up over his head… only to be able to see Malik across the way through it. The older boy's eyes widened as well, staring at him.

"Harry… all I see is your fingers…" he muttered. Harry pulled the fabric down out of reflex, staring at it.

"I knew it!" Ron exclaimed. "That's an invisibility cloak!"

Before Harry could comment further, the door to their room burst open. He shoved the fluid material under his pillow as Fred and George burst into the room.

"Merry Christmas!" George exclaimed.

"Heeeeey…!" Fred cooed. "Harry's got a Weasley sweater too!"

The twins were wearing sweaters as well; blue ones with a gold initial on it, F and G respectfully. George picked at his, a bit of a frown on his face.

"I don't know why Mum always has to put a letter on ours," he said. "I suppose she thinks we forget our names."

"Really," Fred chimed in. "We know we're called Gred and Forge."

Yuugi giggled as the twins went over to Ron and pulled him up out of bed. "C'mon! They've got a feast down in the Great Hall."

They carried Ron out of the room, Yuugi and Malik scrambling out of their beds to follow. Harry grinned, moving to follow… when a folded piece of paper flopped down to the floor. He frowned, reaching down and picking it up. Unfolding it revealed a neat, flowing writing.

_Your father left this in my possession  
before he died. It is time it was returned to  
you. Use it well.  
A Very Merry Christmas to you._

Harry stared… _Use it well…_

-.oOOo.-

The Christmas feast was greater than any of them had ever had. Fat, roasted turkeys, mountains of roast and boiled potatoes, platters of chipolatas, tureens of buttered peas, boats of thick, rich gravy, and cranberry sauce… Yuugi and Malik tried to eat heaping handfuls of everything they could get their hands on. There were also plates of wizard crackers, strange little party favors that, when pulled apart, went off like a cannon blast before revealing various prizes, not to mention several life white mice. Ryou grabbed one of the mice that escaped from his, grinning and putting it in his robe pocket.

After the turkey was desert; flaming Christmas pudding with little surprises hidden inside, as Percy Weasley found out when he nearly cracked his teeth on a silver sickle. Up at the teacher's table, Hagrid was getting more and more red in the face as he called for more wine, before giving Professor McGonagall a kiss on the cheek. Malik made a freaked out face as the professor giggled, a bit pink in the face herself.

By the time Yuugi and the others left the Gryffindor table, they were laden down with prizes from the wizard crackers. The shorter boy bit his lip a moment, before giving his prizes to Malik.

"Could you put them on my bed?" he asked, hearing Atemu let out an inquisitive noise in his head. Malik gave him a strange look, muttering a "sure" as he headed off.

_Aibou… what are you doing? _Atemu asked.

_Nooooothing, _Yuugi replied innocently.

_Right… _the pharaoh muttered, not believing him.

Yuugi just whistled, an amused look on his face as he kept looking back toward the Great Hall. After a moment, he spotted a head of white hair walking up the stairs, leading to the hallway he was standing in…

Ryou blinked. One moment, he saw Yuugi grinning at him strangely, the next minute, he was falling over face first. A second later, he heard the tomb robber cackling in his head, making him sweatdrop. He swore the Ancient Egyptian got off on things like this.

_Try not to kill anything, _he murmured as he always did when he retreated to his Soul Room. Bakura smirked, now in control of their body, waltzing up to the fallen boy casually, catching the occasional dark murmur from him.

"And _how _may I help you, your clumsiness?" he asked slyly, grin broadening as Atemu tilted his head up to glare at him. Bakura shook his head in amusement, finally offering a hand to help the pharaoh get to his feet. He grumbled as he stood up, brushing himself off.

"Why am I getting the impression he's trying to plot something?" he muttered.

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Now why would your 'innocent' outer half do something like that?"

Atemu gave him a dull look. "He is _far _from innocent."

The tomb robber sniggered. "Hard to imagine tha—"

He was cut off as something that looked like a weed suddenly fell from above, landing in Atemu's hair with enough force to flop a spike in front of his face. Bakura snorted, lifting the weed out of the pharaoh's hair and looking it over as he attempted to return the spike to where it was supposed to be.

_Who the hell hangs a weed…? _he asked Ryou, sweatdropping when he heard the boy giggle.

_It's not a weed! _he exclaimed. _It's mistletoe._

_And… what do you do with it? _the tomb robber asked, noticing Atemu catch site of the weed and noticeably pale.

_Well… nothing, really, but if you stand under it with someone you care about, you're supposed to give him or her a kiss, _Ryou explained.

…_Really? _Bakura asked, sounding like a kid that just hit the candy jackpot.

_Uh-oh… _Ryou murmured. _Hey, this is _my _body, remember!_

_Can it, _Bakura remarked, holding up the mistletoe and wrapping an arm around the pharaoh, who looked like he was going to bolt. Atemu stiffened, trying to back away.

"Bakura…" he began, voice quavering slightly as the tomb robber came a bit closer.

"What? Frightened?" Bakura asked, his usual intolerable smirk on his face.

"I…I…"

Atemu felt like he was going to faint; this could not really be happening… He… he hated Bakura… and Bakura… hated him… right? And… and… Good gods he was really close and… he felt like his heart was going to pound out of his chest and his face was so warm and he knew he was so frighten… not that he would admit that aloud… He nearly jumped, feeling Bakura's lips brush against his softly… softly, something unexpected from him…

"_STOP!"_

Atemu and Bakura jumped apart, spinning around to the source of the shout. There was someone tall standing at the end of the hall, in a student's robes, and holding something glowing in their hand…

"Kaiba?" the pharaoh asked, blinking in confusion. What was he…?

Bakura suddenly shot an arm out, pushing Atemu behind him protectively.

"Bakura, wha—"

"That's not Kaiba."

Atemu's eyes widened, before looking back to "Kaiba" as he came closer; a dark, dangerous scowl on his face. Bakura took a step back, forcing the pharaoh to do the same as the taller man held up the Millennium Rod glowing his hand, grabbing the other end and unsheathing the dagger hidden within.

"Get away from the pharaoh…" he snarled, holding up the Item, "…you disgusting tomb robber!"


	9. High Priest and Mirrors

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

I felt bad about leaving a cliffy, so I updated right away. I'm going to work on my game for a day or two after this, so don't expect another update for at least a few days after this.

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE – HIGH PRIEST AND MIRRORS**

Atemu found himself pushed aside by Bakura as the person that looked like Kaiba lunged at him, catching and tearing the tomb robber's school robes with the dagger hidden in the Millennium Rod. Kaiba spun around quickly, and would have neatly sliced open Bakura's arm if he had not ducked away quickly enough, walking away with only a scratch that stung like poison.

Ryou was shouting in Bakura's head, begging him not to hurt Kaiba too bad. Admittedly, Bakura wanted to rip the taller boy a new one just for interrupting him, but he could not exactly do that. Who ever it was that was currently in control of Kaiba's body was a master at using the dagger, easily able to compensate for the odd hilt. It was taking him everything just to dodge the taller boy's precise attacks that he would not have been able to get a counterattack in edgewise even if he wanted to.

Atemu, meanwhile, was wracking his brain, trying to find a way to get Kaiba to stop… but Bakura said it was not really Kaiba. So who was it? Was it really possible that a bit of the dark Malik had stayed behind in the Rod, like the real Malik said? If that were the case, was there even a way _to _stop him…?

Wait… he had referred to them as pharaoh and tomb robber… Being called pharaoh he could understand, but as far as he knew, the other Malik had not known about Bakura's origins…

"It can't be…" Atemu murmured, before taking a deep breath and standing a bit straighter as he shouted, "Seto, _stop it!"_

Kaiba screeched to a halt mid-swing, turning back to the pharaoh with a confused look on his face. "But… pharaoh, I—"

That was about as far as he got; Bakura cracked him over the head as hard as he could, knocking him out cold. The taller boy slumped over onto the ground as Atemu approached hesitantly, hoping he would not be jumping back up again any time soon.

"The high priest…" Bakura muttered, before looking over to the pharaoh. "How…?"

He trailed off, frowning, eyes narrowing. Atemu froze, watching as he slipped a hand in his robe pocket for his wand, sliding it out… before whirling around, hurling off the first charm he could think of. If it were directed at anyone else, they probably would have been spouting boils, but the spell just bounced harmlessly away from its intended target.

"Impressive reflexes, Bakura," Professor Dumbledore said calmly. "No doubt you would make a splendid Auror one day."

Bakura made a "tch" sound, slipping his wand back into his robes as he heard Ryou moan.

_I can't believe you just attacked the headmaster…_

_Can it…_ Bakura grumbled. _That's what he gets for sneaking up on me._

Atemu, however, had a stern look on his face, frowning at the headmaster. "Professor, did you _know _this was going to happen?" he demanded.

Dumbledore's expression of unflappable calm remained. "I did not know; I merely responded to a loud noise."

_By hiding over in the corner? _Atemu asked privately, but said aloud, "That's not what I meant. Why did you interfere with our lives? Why did you have us come here? Did you know _this –" _He pointed down to where Kaiba was lying – "was going to happen!"

Dumbledore smiled calmly, only serving to irritate the pharaoh further. "You will understand why you are here soon enough," he replied after a moment, before turning to leave. "I suggest you take Mr. Kaiba to the hospital wing, but I would not recommend parting him from that golden trinket of his."

Bakura and Atemu stared at his back as he left, at a loss for words. They knew the headmaster was a little loopy, but… well, to be that vague, and to more or less brush them off…

Bakura shook his head, glancing at Kaiba before looking up toward Atemu. The pharaoh looked over to him when he realized he was being stared at, slightly uncomfortable. They had been bare centimeters away from… He had to turn away, or Bakura would have seen him turn as red as the tips of his hair.

"Um… anyway… let's go… get Kaiba to Madam Pomfrey…" he muttered.

The tomb robber smirked. "Sure thing."

-.oOOo.-

Malik whistled as he walked down the corridor leading to the Great Hall the next morning, using his sleeve to polish the adorable little Egyptian love charm Hermione had given him for Christmas, before slipping it under his shirt so no one would ask. He jumped down the steps leading into the room, waving to Ron and Harry, noticing that not only Yuugi and Ryou were missing, but Kaiba as well. He flopped onto his seat, grabbing some eggs and toast and jam, raising an eyebrow as he saw Harry was practically floating on air.

"What's up?" he asked.

"I saw my parents last night," Harry said in an excited whisper.

Malik blinked. "But… you said…"

"I know," he said. "But, I went to the library last night; using the cloak. I almost got caught – long story – and ended up in a classroom with an old mirror inside. I could _see _my parents in the mirror."

Ron seemed excited about the thought, but Malik was not so thrilled. "You might want to be careful, Harry. Sometimes mirrors can reflect things that might not be good for you, no matter how friendly they look."

"I doubt that they would leave something dangerous lying around," Ron said.

Malik raised an amused eyebrow. "How soon we forget about Fluffy."

Ron made a face as Harry shook his head. "Anyway, I'm going to go again tonight. You're welcome to come if you want."

Malik shook his head. "Count me out," he said. If he got in trouble, that would be his own business.

"I'll come!" Ron exclaimed happily, making the Egyptian shake his head.

"Anyway, have you guys seen Yuugi and Ryou?" he asked, shoveling some eggs into his mouth.

"No; and Yuugi didn't come to bed last night," Harry said… before exchanging glances with Ron. They nodded, before Harry asked, "Malik… who's Atemu?"

The Gravekeeper almost choked on his eggs. "Wh-what?" he asked.

"We hear Ryou call Yuugi that every now and again," Ron said. "So, who's Atemu?"

Malik stared for a moment. That was it; he was going to kill those crazy Egyptians… again.

"Probably another nick name I don't know about," he finally said off handedly.

The younger boys did not look terribly convinced, but they did not press further. That was a good thing, though, because Malik was a bit lost in thought. It was only a matter of time before they figured it out for themselves, assuming they had not yet. They either needed the spirits to disappear for a while (something he doubted they would agree with) or find an easy way to tell them. Neither of those options were likable, but what choice did they have…?

-.oOOo.-

Atemu yawned, rubbing his eyes and looking around… before he turned bright red. He and Bakura had carried Kaiba all the way to the hospital wing, something that had taken them the better part of two hours. The businessman may have been rod-like, but he was by no means light. By the time they got there, it would have been way past midnight before they would have been able to get back to their respective common rooms, so Madam Pomfrey allowed them to stay the night.

He had not exactly counted on waking up with Bakura in the same bed cuddling him though.

Not… that he minded… but… He turned redder, making a face; his thoughts had been so jumbled and mixed up lately that half the time he did not know what way was up. It was a feeling he had hardly experienced at all, and did not exactly know how to deal with it.

Atemu rested a hand on Bakura's chest, leaning back against him. He felt… so warm and comfortable though…

A soft moan from across the room made him lift his head again, looking over to a bed across the way, seeing Kaiba grouping around toward where the Millennium Rod was resting on the nightstand. His fingers brushed it, before grabbing it tightly, pulling it toward him and pressing it close to his chest, like a small child hugging a favorite stuffed animal. Atemu frowned at the way he was acting, poking Bakura awake. The tomb robber muttered something, squeezing the pharaoh a bit tighter, before he groggily opened his eyes.

"Whaa…?" he asked. Atemu had to bite his lip; dear gods, he looked cute…

"Uhhm…" he finally stammered out, before finally pointing over to Kaiba.

Bakura blinked at him, raising an eyebrow, before slipping out from around Atemu and creeping over to Kaiba's bed. The pharaoh fidgeted at the lack of warmth, but watched as the tomb robber leaned over Kaiba… only to suddenly have his nose grabbed. Bakura flailed as Kaiba sat up, trying to pry the taller boy's hand off his nose.

Atemu blinked. "Kaiba…?" he asked, half hoping.

He turned to him. "Sorry, pharaoh. I put him to sleep in his mind a while ago. He's too much of a prude… I was never like that, was I?"

Atemu sweatdropped; he did not have to answer that, did he?

"Um… could you let Bakura go, Seto…?" he asked tentatively.

Seto turned a glare to the tomb robber, who was currently beating on his fingers with a fist, before finally letting go of his nose. Bakura fell back until his rear end met another bed, rubbing his poor abused nose. Atemu walked over, looking down to his former high priest, gaze drifting to the Rod for a moment, before coming back to him.

"…how?" he asked, at a loss for other words. Seto was supposed to have lived his life after him – was supposed to be pharaoh after him. He could not understand why he would be here, speaking with them now…

Seto was quiet for a long moment, before he answered. "My own regret," he said softly. "In the end, I couldn't do anything. That everyone died around me… that bothered me until my death." He looked down at the Rod in his other hand, clutching it tightly. "I don't know how it happened… one moment, I was breathing my last… the next I was in everlasting darkness…"

"At least you didn't have anyone whispering in your head," Bakura grumbled, earning him a glare. Atemu put a hand on Bakura's arm, holding up his other toward the high priest. He wanted to at least _try _to avoid bloodshed.

"Then what happened?" he asked.

"You mean besides three thousand years worth of darkness?" Seto replied sarcastically. "Not much. Well, yeah, there was that psychopath and all that crap that happened during that Duelist City or whatever it was, but other than that, it's been pretty dull in here."

Atemu and Bakura exchanged looks; they wished things had been "pretty dull" for them too. The high priest raised an eyebrow, suspicious.

"You're not gonna try and put me away, are you?" he asked.

"Of course not," Atemu replied. "But, well… you're gonna have to wake Kaiba up."

Something scary happened then: Seto gave them an adorable – and almost pathetic – pleading look. The two of them leaned as far away from him as they could, freaked out.

"But… but… but…!" the high priest began, his lower lip trembling. "You know how my outer self is… he'll… he'll…"

Seto sniffed loudly, making the other two spirits sweatdrop. Atemu held up his hands, embarrassed as all hell. Was this really his former high priest? This was just… scary…

"Look… no one knows about us here aside from Professor Dumbledore, and I'd prefer to keep it that way," he said. "I don't exactly know how Wizards take to possessed students… and you've already caused enough damage with 'Kaiba's sudden change of heart'."

Seto pouted. "Well… I suppose…" He brightened barely a second later. "I'll wake him up tonight, so I'll have from then to the end of break to threaten and lecture him until he starts being friendlier!"

Atemu and Bakura exchanged freaked out looks. This… was going to be fun…

-.oOOo.-

Harry had been walking over toward Gryffindor tower when he caught sight of Yuugi in the hallways, walking with a sense of purpose toward the library, Ryou not that far behind him. He bit his lip… before running into his room really quick to get his invisibility cloak, throwing it over himself before dashing to catch up with them. This was probably the only chance he would ever get to find out what his friends really were up to, and he was not about to pass it up.

He caught up to the two of them just outside the library, creeping just close enough to hear them.

"I'm worried about Kaiba," Yuugi was saying. "He's not going to be happy tomorrow."

"I'm more worried about your priest," Ryou replied, stopping as Yuugi turned around to face him. "Face it, that guy makes Akunadin look right in the head. Three thousand years trapped made him just a little loopy."

"The fact that he's been released has made him extremely hyper as well," Yuugi replied. "I'm… not sure how to handle that. I'm used to Seto acting a lot like Kaiba does. It's… weird."

Ryou smirked. "I'm sure he'll be back to his usual self once he's calmed down a bit."

"Yeah…" Yuugi replied, looking up to him for a long moment… before he blushed, turning away. "A-anyway…" he muttered, pushing his way into the library. Or… trying to at least; Ryou grabbed his arm, pulling him back a bit, drawing a blush out of the shorter boy. "Bakura, c'mon; you said you wanted to go look through things in the library."

Ryou smirked again. "What? You still owe me one for that weed, Atemu…"

Yuugi turned even redder. "L-l-l-later!" he stammered, slipping out of Ryou's grasp and into the library.

Harry stared at Ryou's back as he chuckled darkly, following Yuugi. What were they talking about…? Priest… and using Kaiba's names like they were referring to two different people? Not only that, but there was that name again, "Atemu"… After a moment, he followed them inside, catching them talking softly to Madam Pince, the librarian. She was giving them both a suspicious look that made them fidget, but after a moment she led them off to the back of the room, Harry following as close as he dared.

Madam Pince pointed them to a section of books, and the two boys bowed, thanking her before she left, before starting to look through the books. They each picked one before settling at a nearby table to read, and Harry took that opportunity to look at the section they were in. The book titles he saw brought a frown to his face: _My Spirit and Me: A Comprehensive Guide for the Possessed, The Man from the Ghost, _and _The Spirit Realm: Understanding Ghosts, Poltergeists, and Other Otherworldly Phenomena._

Were… they _really _possessed?

The two boys were quiet for a long moment, flipping through their respective books. Yuugi was the one to finally break the silence, sighing softly, before asking:

"Do you really think we're going to find a way to separate from our other halves in these?"

Harry's eyes widened, and he felt his blood run cold for a moment.

"Dunno," Ryou replied. "It would be nice. Though I'm sure Ryou appreciates the bodyguard, I think he'd like it better if he could hang out with his friends while I'm going around beating the shit out of bratty Slytherins."

Yuugi shook his head in amusement. "It's a wonder Malfoy hasn't taken a hit out on you yet."

"Oh, he's tried," Ryou said with a cocky smirk, "casually" slipping an arm around Yuugi that made the smaller boy jump. "No one can lay a hand on this _handsome _hunk of man flesh unless I let them."

Yuugi groaned, muttering something that sounded like, "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

Ryou sniggered briefly, before his tone became serious again. "Hey, I wanna be able to sneak around and do good ole' tomb robber-y things without someone moaning and complaining in my head. And I'd like to be somewhere else while Ryou's spending hours on end on homework."

"And do what?" Yuugi asked, chuckling in amusement.

Ryou glanced over at him, watching him as he was a bit _too _preoccupied with his book. As the white haired boy's hand crept lower, Harry's eyes got wider, until…

"_EEK!" _Yuugi shrieked, nearly jumping a foot in the air. Ryou put a hand over his mouth, smothering back a laugh as the smaller boy whirled on him, glaring. "Bakura…!" he hissed.

"Oh, c'mon, your worship," Ryou replied. "If I wasn't around to torture you, who would?"

The hand came back up to Yuugi's shoulder, though it pulled him closer this time, away from the book. He let out an "urk", trying to push away from Ryou, but the white haired boy would not let him get away with that so easily. He reached up with his other hand, holding and stroking Yuugi's face, and it was not long before his face turned bright red in a blush.

"C'mon… can't leave you all alone and let you get depressed…" Ryou murmured softly, getting closer as Yuugi's eyes widened.

Harry made a face. They… they were not going to…! Not in the library! That was the kind of things that _old _couples did! Gross!

He turned, fully intending to make a quick retreat… only to practically collide with a book display he had not seen. Yuugi and Ryou jumped apart, Ryou's eyes instantly fixing on the spot where Harry was now frozen solid.

"Who the hell is there?" he demanded.

Harry bit his lip hard, afraid that Ryou could hear him breathe. This was bad… he did not want to get caught… he did not know what kind of trouble he would be in! These two… these people were totally different from the _real _Ryou and Yuugi…

Suddenly, there was a _whoosh_ing sound from behind him, followed by a snarled curse from Ryou. Harry hazard a glance, only to see that Peeves had whooshed by with a sack of flour… that ended up on the already white enough boy's head. Ryou stalked after the poltergeist, uttering promises of killing it again, and Harry took that moment to make a very quick escape.

-.oOOo.-

Harry had been quick to tell Ron of his escapade in the library that night, thoughts of the mirror in which he had seen his parents momentarily forgotten. Ron looked a bit surprised, but admitted he was not totally shocked; after all, they had more or less expected this.

"I'm guessing their real names are Atemu and Bakura then?" Ron asked.

"At least the spirits," Harry agreed. "And from what they were saying, it sounds like the same thing is happening to Seto Kaiba now too."

"That Ravenclaw prude?" he asked, blinking. "Well, that would explain he sudden change of attitude…"

Ron trailed off, looking up as the portrait hole opened and Malik walked in, munching on a left over tart from supper. Harry leaned close, whispering quickly as the Egyptian approached.

"I bet he knows all about them too."

Ron nodded quickly, looking up as Malik stopped behind Harry's couch, stuffing the rest of the tart in his mouth before asking, "Wuzzup?"

"Not much," Harry replied, leaning back against the couch. "Hey, Malik? How long have you and Yuugi and Ryou known each other?"

Malik blinked in surprise at the question, but shrugged. "Not all that long. We met over this past summer during Battle City."

"Really?" Ron asked, pretending to know what he was talking about. "How did that go?"

Malik chuckled. "Well, it wasn't exactly one of my better moments."

Harry leaned back, exchanging a sly smile with Ron. "I bet Atemu really wiped the floor with everyone participating, didn't he?"

The Egyptian waved a dismissive hand. "More or less; he didn't have some of the easier fights. But, then again, he never—"

Malik cut himself off, wondering why Harry and Ron were looking so triumphant… before he nearly beat himself over the head. Shit! Hoodwinked by an eleven year old! He pointed a finger at the two of them, hoping what he had to say would sink in.

"No listen, both of you," he said. "Don't go galvanizing about the school, saying you've got friends who are possessed. Atemu and Bakura are harmless… well, Atemu is anyway, Bakura is… well, you've seen how he is."

"What about Kaiba?" Ron asked.

"What about him?" Malik replied, raising an eyebrow.

"I heard Yu—Atemu and Bakura talking about a Seto and a Kaiba like they were two different people," Harry provided.

Malik's eyes widened momentarily. The high priest…? No way… how…?

"I don't know about that, but I'm sure I'll find out," he said. "Look; you guys treat Yuugi and Atemu and Bakura and Ryou like you've been, okay? This will really upset them both, especially if their friends take it the wrong way or anything."

Harry and Ron exchanged glances again. Well… it would be hard to just ignore it now that they knew… but… Well, Yuugi and Ryou were still the same people that they knew (though they were getting the impression that they did not know Ryou very well at all), so… maybe it would not be too hard.

"Can we tell Hermione?" Ron asked as the portrait hole opened again, admitting Yuugi. "She was the one that told us about Atemu in the first place."

Yuugi stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening, as Malik put a hand over his face. Just lovely…


	10. Flamel

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

Gah; this should have been up sooner. I was retagging and compiling all of my music onto iTunes. Is it bad I have seventeen days worth of music just on my harddrive?

That's what I thought. XP Anyway, enjoy the new chapter.

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN – FLAMEL**

To say that Seto Kaiba was pissed off come the next day was a gross understatement. Dark circles hung under his eyes from being kept awake by an overly cheerful and _far _too hyper extra tenant in his head. He had tried everything he could think of to get the man that looked like some gross misinterpretation of himself out of his head, but the other Seto had just latched onto his waist and huggled him like Mokuba used to do when they were younger. It was cute for his little brother, but for him, it looked more like someone was trying to get himself beat up or shot.

He blamed Yuugi for this, of course; the short of stature duelist was the one caught up in all the hokey spiritual Egypt stuff. So, of course, if he suddenly spouted an Egyptian alter ego, it was all his fault. Fortunately, said Egyptian alter ego was not a morning person, so he was allowed that small amount of peace.

It was a good thing Kaiba had not really gotten on Yuugi's case about it, aside from the nasty glares that were sent in his direction. He was already mortified enough that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had found out about his and Ryou's own spirits. Atemu blamed himself of course; he should have stayed under the radar more, instead of taking control every time Bakura was around.

Fortunately, Harry and Ron were taking things in stride, once they got over their initial reaction to having friends possessed by Egyptian spirits. They found Bakura and his "profession" particularly interesting; especially when they managed to weasel out the rare story about something he did in the past.

Hermione returned to the school the day before classes were to start again, and almost immediately started to ask Atemu as many questions as she could, until Bakura had to pull him away, accusing her of making his ears fall off. The pharaoh ended up pulled onto the tomb robber's lap, watching – with a very red face – as Harry updated her on what had happened to him.

"…Dumbledore showed up on the last night and explained to me what the mirror did," he finished. "I'm sorry I got distracted, Hermione."

Hermione pursed her lips, looking torn between scolding him for being out of bed after hours and disappointed that he had not found anything on Nicholas Flamel.

Once classes started up again, though, they were back to looking for some indication of who Flamel was for ten minutes at a time during their breaks. Harry had even less time than the others; the spectacular end to the last Quidditch had Wood working the team harder than ever. Apparently that was not the only reason, as he had revealed at the end of one of their practices…

Harry had dragged his feet back to the common room after that practice, going over to where Hermione and Ron were playing Wizard's Chess, Yuugi and Malik watching in amusement as the former was loosing spectacularly. Yuugi got that distant look on his face for a brief moment, indicating he was conversing with Atemu, before he looked up at Harry.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Harry sighed. "Quidditch," he answered. "Snape is refereeing the next match."

"Don't play," Hermione said at once.

"Say you're ill," Ron said.

"Pretend to break your leg," Yuugi suggested.

"_Really _break your leg," Malik replied.

Everyone gave the Egyptian a strange look.

"What?"

Harry shook his head. "Anyway… I can't do any of that," he said. "There isn't a replacement seeker; we'd loose for sure."

Yuugi rubbed his forehead. "Yeah, good point… and the other me would never hear the end of it from Bakura."

"Harry," Malik began, frowning, "Snape is one of the people who may have been jinxing your broom in the last match. What if he succeeds this time… or worse? Is this game really worth your life?"

Harry was about to reply, when Neville stumbled into the common room, his legs plastered together by the Leg-Locker Curse. Everyone else in the room literally fell over laughing as Hermione jumped up to perform the counter curse. The boy's legs sprang apart immediately, and he plopped his rear down on the floor, a pathetically sad look on his face.

"What happened?" Ron asked as him and Harry joined Hermione.

"It was Malfoy," Neville sniffed. "He said he always wanted to try that on someone."

"Report him!" Hermione insisted. "You can't let him get away with that!"

Neville hung his head. "I don't want no more trouble."

Harry reached into his robe pocket and handed the boy the last of the chocolate frogs he had gotten from Hermione that Christmas. Meanwhile, Yuugi and Malik watched from where they had been sitting with the others, the latter with a bitter look on his face.

"Damn that Malfoy," Malik snarled. "I wish I had some kind of power still. I'd love to teach that brat a lesson."

Yuugi nodded in agreement, holding the Puzzle in his hands as he said, "I'd let the other me teach Malfoy a lesson myself, but I just can't risk it. It's bad enough that our friends know about the spirits; if Malfoy found out about them, he'd probably do everything he could to get us expelled."

The Egyptian paused a moment, grinning. "We could always sic the high priest on him."

Yuugi looked horrified. "I wouldn't wish that ill on anyone."

Malik laughed, before he blew out a frustrated sigh. "So there's nothing we can do, hunh?"

Yuugi was about to reply when Harry, Ron, and Hermione raced over to them, excited. Harry had one of those Famous Witch or Wizard cards clutched in his hands – cards that came packaged with chocolate frogs. He held it up, showing off a picture of Dumbledore.

"Look, I've found Nicolas Flamel!" he exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

"But… that's…"

"Listen," Harry cut Malik off. "'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in nineteen-forty-five, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, _and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel!"_

Hermione's eyes widened, and she suddenly raced out of the room, leaving the four boys wondering what was up. She returned a few minutes later, lugging an enormous old book in her arms. Before they could ask her what she was so excited about, she was using Malik's back as a table, forcing him to bend over so she could easily open the book and flip through its pages.

"I can't believe I forgot about this," she exclaimed. "I checked this out of the library a few weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"_Light?" _Malik stressed, grunting from the weight of the book, and wondering how a little eleven-year-old girl managed to lug it down the stairs. Hermione ignored him, however, as she located the page she had been searching for and pointed to it dramatically.

"Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of _the Philosopher's Stone!"_

That did not quite have the effect she desired.

"The what?" Harry and Ron asked, with Malik trying to look over his shoulder at the book. She rolled her eyes and was about to explain it to them, when Yuugi beat her too it.

"The Philosopher's Stone can transform any metal into gold," he said. "I have a card called Philosopher's Stone; I was curious what it was so I looked it up."

"That's not the only thing it can do," Hermione said, nodding. "It can also produce the Elixir of Life, a substance that can make the drinker immortal."

"Great," Malik said. "Now we know what that grubby little pac—"

Suddenly, Hermione lifted the book off of his back. Caught off guard by the sudden change in weight, he lost his balance and toppled over face first, landing on the ground with a thud. Yuugi sweatdropped, embarrassed.

"Um… Malik-kun…"

"Notta word, Yuugi-kun," Malik replied.

"I wasn't gonna say anything," he responded. "I was just wondering what Jounouchi-kun would say to this."

_She's got him whipped,_ Atemu answered, chuckling.

Yuugi never had a harder time fighting back a laugh.

-.oOOo.-

The day of the Quidditch match, Kaiba was stalking down the halls to the library, perfectly intent on missing the match and catching up on subjects that he had been lax in because of that damnable voice in his head. Unfortunately, as he got toward the library, he started to feel weird; like he was in two places at once. He did not realize what was happening until his feet continued on past the library, getting him to growl in frustration.

"Stop that, you idiotic…!" he snarled, trying to get his feet to listen to him.

_Would it kill you to have fun every now and then? _asked that far too damn cheery voice in his head.

"That's what you said the last time I was supposed to be studying for a test," Kaiba hissed.

_You got _one _lousy question wrong, _Seto replied. _Whoopty freakin' whee-ha. You still scored higher than everyone else in the class._

"Not good enough," he replied, privately glad that the hallway they turned into was empty.

_Oh spare me, _the priest replied. _In case you hadn't noticed, that bastard isn't standing over you with a riding crop anymore. You can cut the perfectionism act._

Kaiba somehow managed to stop cold in his tracks at that, eyes widening, before they narrowed, the expression on his face turning murderous.

"Stay out of my head," he snapped.

_Hey, I can't help it, _Seto replied flippantly, as if it were nothing at all. _Your thoughts are as open as a teenaged girl that left her diary on the kitchen counter. Besides, everyone knows something's up with you; you cry in your sleep._

Kaiba turned red, though knowing him, it was not because he was embarrassed. Seto did not let up, though, speaking of all of his dark thoughts and hidden memories and feelings in such a loud voice that his outer self could not ignore it no matter how much he tried to. Kaiba clamped his hands over his ears as he sank to the floor, as if it would make him stop.

Suddenly, though, he felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and whirled around to see the high priest standing behind him, helping him to his feet. They were no longer in the hallway in Hogwarts, however; they were in a dark corridor, with a door apiece on both walls that surrounded them.

Kaiba gave the older man a hard look, observing him closely. Scary how much alike they looked, though there were a few – very few – differences between the two of them. Seto stood a bit taller than him, and had the same kind of regal bearing that made Kaiba want to strangle that damnable spirit in Yuugi. His hair was a bit darker as well, with black streaks mixed in, as if his hair could not decide what color it wanted to be. There was also some noticeable gray in his hair; though if it was from stress or something left from old age, it was hard to tell.

"You need to chill," Seto said after a moment, not letting Kaiba break away from him. "You want a reason to be miserable? Spend a few thousand years in the Rod a be the butt end of every dirty joke known to man."

Kaiba glared, not amused.

"Hey… seriously," Seto continued. "I know what its like to have a father that sucks. You can't let him haunt you. You'll end up like me."

Kaiba snorted. "A happy-go-lucky pain in the ass?"

"Well that too," the priest said, grinning. "But, no…" he continued, serious, "someone that let their grief eat them away. Or their anger… at yourself, or him."

Kaiba glared a bit glumly, shrugging him off. "I don't need someone telling me to do," he replied, something resembling a pout on his face.

Seto sniggered, grabbing him from behind and hugging him tight. Kaiba flailed, trying to get him off.

"Of course you do!" the priest exclaimed despite his protests. "If you didn't, you'd just study, study, study and never have a life. Oh, by the way, look alive."

Kaiba blinked… finding himself back in the real world, and outside in the cold to boot. He was just a few strides away from the Quidditch stadium; apparently his other self had kept their body walking while they had been talking. The game seemed to be finished, because there were students trickling out of the stands, among them were Yuugi and his friends, walking arm in arm. Kaiba sighed softly to himself, standing with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting and watching as the group slowly came to a halt before him. He nodded to Harry.

"Did you win?" he asked.

"Yeah; within five minutes," Harry answered.

Kaiba did something rare: he cracked a smile. "Good."

Though he would deny it, it was at that point that Kaiba became a really good friend for all of them.

-.oOOo.-

Bakura cracked his knuckles, heading straight into the off limits forbidden forest. It was late at night, and he had slipped off as usual for his own time to "perform his craft" as he called it. This time, though, he was doing it for the sake of Atemu – as disturbing as that was. He had Ryou talk to Professor Sprout about flowers in the Wizarding world and what they meant; his outer self was flaky enough to ask about that. He was also flaky enough to be complaining about being out here.

_It's called _forbidden _for a reason! _Ryou moaned.

_Gods, yadonushi, shut up already, _Bakura grumbled. _It's not like… wait._

As Ryou started asking what was wrong, Bakura ducked down into the darkness. Barely a moment later, a cloaked figure emerged from the castle. The tomb robber watched with narrowed eyes as the figure walked quickly into the forest, barely a few feet away from him. He waited a moment, before pursuing the individual. After a moment, he spotted Quirrell in his purple and lavender robes, and hid behind a large trunk as the cloaked man approached. They started speaking to each other in hushed voices, and Bakura strained desperately to hear.

"…d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet out h-here, Severus…"

"I thought we should keep this private," the cloaked man replied with a voice that could only be Snape's. Severus Snape; how fitting. "Student's are not to know about the Philosopher's Stone, after all."

Bakura narrowed his eyes; the others had told him about figuring out what Fluffy was guarding. It looked like that little girlfriend of Malik's was right.

"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?" Snape suddenly snapped, nearly making him jump.

"B-b-but Severus…!"

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," Snape warned, taking a menacing step toward the stuttering professor.

"I-I don't know…"

"You know perfectly well what I mean."

Something in the forest snarled suddenly, making Bakura jump again. He hid further into darkness, calming his heart in time to catch Snape saying, "…your little bit of hocus-pocus. I'm waiting."

"B-but I d-d-don't…"

"Very well," Snape interrupted, looking around as if knowing someone was watching them. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decide where your loyalties lie."

With that said, Snape whirled about and left, leaving a shuddering Quirrell in his wake.

-.oOOo.-

The next morning during breakfast, Bakura hurried over to the Gryffindor table. Hermione opened her mouth to greet him, but he shushed her quickly, motioning for them to follow him. He led them to an empty hallway, making sure to check for ghosts, before telling them everything that he had overheard in the forest the night before.

"So, it really _is_ the Philosopher's Stone that Fluffy's guarding," Yuugi replied, hardly believing it.

"And it's not just Fluffy that's guarding it," Hermione added. "There must be other enchantments that the professors placed around it to prevent its theft. Snape must know the other ones!"

"So that means Quirrell is our last defense against Snape," Harry said.

"The stone'll be gone by the end of the week," Ron replied dryly.


	11. Getting Rid of Dragons

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

Sorry this chapter is so late; my dad was working on enlargening my closet, and I haven't had much of a chance to work on it.

I've got a bone to pick with some of you people that review. I've more or less given up on getting an intellegent review from everyone -- I'm not that lucky I guess. :P And I'm glad for some of the reviews -- the individual that compares my stories to food amuses me to no end -- but some of you... ugh...

To the person advertising their website on my review board: take it to a message board. A review box is not a place for you to spam your goddamn site.

To the "dubbie elitist" that so kindly informed me that the high priest's name was really Seth... Hun, I've watched 223 episodes of Yuugiou Duel Monsters (I'm still too chicken to watch the last episode) at least once in their original Japanese language format. I'd be rather upset with myself if I didn't know the characters' names by now.

To the idiots begging me for more shounen-ai pairings... shut the _hell _up. I've already addressed this.

Enjoy the new chapter; I hope to have the next out a bit sooner than this one.

* * *

**CHAPTER ELEVEN – GETTING RID OF DRAGONS**

Quirrell must have been more resilient than any of them thought, because by the end of the week he was still standing, though he did look considerably paler. Harry and the others tried to give him as much support as they could; Kaiba even glared at the Weasley twins for trying to stick quills in his turban the one day. The professor seemed to have his spirits boosted because of it.

Hermione and Kaiba had other ideas outside of increasing Quirrell's self-confidence. The two of them had ganged up on the others, writing out final exam study sheets and forcing them to go over them at least once a night.

"C'mon, Hermi-_chaaaaaaaan," _Malik groaned one day. "Finals are _ages _away."

"Ten weeks," Hermione reminded stiffly. "You need to be well prepared."

Arguing with Kaiba was pointless, so they did not even bother.

What made things even worse was that the teachers seemed to be agreeing with him and Hermione. They had more homework than they had the entire year, and many of the first years were stressing just to get their assignments done before the due date.

"I'm never going to remember any of this!" Ron declared one day in the library, slamming his book closed before flopping over on top of it. Seto raised an eyebrow at him, tapping him over the head with his quill as Yuugi looked up, rubbing his eyes.

"I think both my minds are numb…" he muttered.

Hermione sighed. "Well, I suppose we cou—oh, hello, Hagrid."

Bleary eyes were raised to see the giant groundskeeper coming out from a book section, eyeing them suspiciously.

"'Ello…" he said, glancing at their books. "An' what're you lot up ter? Yer still not lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out about him ages ago," Ryou said, waving a dismissive hand. "Not to mention what Fluffy is guarding."

"Yup!" Malik chirped. "The Philosophe—"

"SHHH!" Hagrid hushed him quickly, looking around. "Look… come an' see me later. I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it here. Students aren' s'pposed ter know."

"We'll see you later then," Harry said, a little too happily.

Hagrid left, looking disgruntled. The others got up to leave as well, having enough with studying for the day. As Yuugi was collecting his things, however, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning revealed Bakura standing behind him, and Atemu was taking his place a moment later.

"Bakura, what?" he asked, sounding stressed. "I'm not in the mood fo—"

"Chill, your worship," Bakura cut him off. "I don't know if you noticed, but Hagrid isn't exactly the type to come into a library looking for reading material just for the hell of it."

Atemu was tempted to ask him if he knew that from his own experience, but he decided against it, asking instead, "Well, what section was he in?"

Bakura shrugged, motioning the two of them toward the section that Hagrid had occupied. Atemu walked along the shelves, blinking in surprise as he stopped at the part the giant had been looking at. He pulled out a book marked _Dragons: From Egg to Inferno, a Dragon Keeper's Guide, _opening it up and flipping through a few pages.

"Dragons?" Bakura asked, casually slipping an arm around his waist. "You don't think…?"

Atemu had a weirded out look on his face. "Hagrid has trouble distinguishing what's safe from what's really dangerous. I wouldn't be surprised." He snapped the book closed, putting it back on the shelf. "We should talk to him about it. Now."

Bakura stumbled as the pharaoh grabbed his hand, half dragging him out of the library.

-.oOOo.-

Considering what they were there for, Atemu and Bakura were not too surprised when they saw that the curtains were drawn on Hagrid's house, nor how cautious he was when he let them in. It was horrendously hot inside, forcing the two of them to take their robes off as they sat down. Hagrid made them tea, and offered them stoat sandwiches, though they took one look at them and quickly refused.

"I thought yeh'd be comin' with the others," the giant said, looking rather distracted as he sat down.

"Well, we wanted to talk to you ourselves," Atemu said casually, sipping at his tea.

Bakura tugged at his shirt. "Geeze, can you at least open a window in here?"

"Sorry, Ry'u, can't," Hagrid said, looking distractedly toward the fire. Atemu followed his gaze, spotting something black half hidden under the kettle. It did not take much to figure out what it was.

"So… where did you get that dragon egg?" he said, mock cheerfully, as if dragon eggs in a fireplace were normal. Hagrid looked a bit uncomfortable at being caught.

"Er… I won it," he said. "Down in the village; got in a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

Atemu and Bakura exchanged looks. My, how terribly convenient; who in their right mind would go through the trouble of getting a dragon egg, only to loose it in a game of cards?

"And… how exactly are you going to take _care _of it?" the tomb robber asked finally.

"Well… I've bin doin' some readin'," the gamekeeper said, reaching over and slipping a book marked _Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit _out from under his pillow. "It's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breath on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here: how ter recognize diff'rent eggs. What I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

Atemu and Bakura ended up leaving a few minutes later, a feeling of doom hanging between them both.

"Oh, man… that guy is whacked," Bakura muttered. "He does realize he lives in a _wooden _house, right?"

"I don't think he's realizing much of anything right now," Atemu grumbled, before turning toward him. "Look, we can't tell the others about this, and we can't let them know. We'll tell them we questioned Hagrid already and didn't get anything out of him."

"Well, why—?"

"If we tell Harry and the others, they'll want to get involved," the pharaoh pointed out. "Well, maybe not Kaiba… willingly, but you know Malik and Harry and Ron and Hermione are going to want to figure out a way to get rid of that thing."

"Point," Bakura conceded. "So, what do we do?"

"I'm not sure…" Atemu said. "We need to get in touch with someone that's actually _supposed _to handle dragons. I think Ron told me once that his brother works with them… I'll have to make sure; send him a letter."

Bakura sighed. "Man, why can't we go to a normal school again…?"

-.oOOo.-

Keeping the fact that Hagrid was raising an illegal dragon a secret from the others turned out to be easier than Atemu had counted on. They were too focused on finding out what else was guarding the Philosopher's Stone and how to keep Snape from getting to it, that they had not realized he was lying through his teeth. Just as well; he doubted Hagrid would have told them anything important even if he did know what else was guarding the Stone.

Harry, though, was starting to get suspicious, especially when he noticed that Atemu and Bakura were out more often than Yuugi and Ryou again. His suspicions increased when he saw the two of them writing a note – or rather, Atemu was writing, and Bakura was criticizing him. Finally the pharaoh elbowed him, glaring up at him.

"You don't even know English that well, so shut up!" he exclaimed.

Harry left at that moment, mostly because Bakura did something that made the pharaoh squeak, and he really did not want to see the aftermath.

Then, one day a few weeks later, Yuugi got a note delivered by one of the school owls. He instantly looked worried, crumpling the note up quickly before shoving it in his pocket and switching places with the pharaoh. He muttered an excuse me to the others, before hurrying off to the Hufflepuff table to talk with Bakura.

That day, Yuugi was not in Herbology, nor was Ryou in any of his classes. That got (probably unwanted) attention from Hermione.

"What are they doing, skipping classes," she huffed. "They could get into so much trouble!"

The next day, another odd thing caught Harry's attention: Malfoy looked like the sun was shining only on him. When the Slytherin boy looked that damn triumphant, Harry _knew _that something was up. It was just confirmed when he saw Atemu and Bakura in the library later that day, the former pacing back and forth, wringing his hands.

"This is bad…" he was saying. "Malfoy must have followed us. What are we going to do? He's probably going to start blabbing about it all over the school, and then—!"

Bakura, who had been reclining in a chair, rolled his eyes as he stood up, throwing his arms around Atemu and holding him tight.

"Will you chill?" he asked softly, biting on his ear. "If Charlie doesn't write us back… well, we could just let it loose in the forest."

Atemu groaned. "With our luck, one puff and it would burn down the whole place," he said. "No; we've just got to hope Charlie's letter comes before Malfoy does anything."

Harry left at that moment, frowning. Just… what _were _they trying to do…?

-.oOOo.-

A week later, Hagrid's dragon – whom the giant was fondly calling Norbert – was about the size of a large dog. Atemu was starting to get worried that even when they got Charlie's letter back, they would not be able to carry the damn dragon to any kind of drop off point. Then, as if reading his mind, the school owl they had used to send a message to the Weasley brother returned with a note. The pharaoh rushed over to see Bakura right away, pulling him off into a private hallway before reading the note aloud.

Dear Yuugi,

Thanks for your letter; Ron's told me so much about you. I'd  
be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy  
getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over  
with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week.  
Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.

Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on  
Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's  
still dark.

Send me an answer as soon as possible.

Charlie

Atemu felt like he could breathe again. "Oh, thank Ra…" he muttered, leaning back against Bakura. "We're saved."

"How are we gonna get it up there?" the tomb robber asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Even I can't sneak around with a dragon in a cage."

The pharaoh bit his lip. "I'll… I'll steal Harry's invisibility cloak. He sleeps like a rock; he won't even notice I took it."

"You? Steal?" Bakura asked… before grabbing him in a bear hug. "I'm so proud!"

Atemu sweatdropped, about ready to hit him… when he spotted something black, like a school robe, slipping away from around the corner.

"Oh, great," Bakura snarled, spotting it too. "Is there no privacy in this place?"

Atemu worried his lip. "Saturday… I better get a note off to him…"

"Don't worry about it," Bakura said dismissively. "I'll sneak out into town and send out a letter using one of the post offices' express owls."

The pharaoh sweatdropped; express… owls…? He shook his head; he did not want to know, so long as it worked.

-.oOOo.-

Yuugi lay down in bed, waiting quietly for the sound of snoring around him, before wishing his other self good luck as they switched places. Atemu sat up in bed, taking a breath, before slipping out, still dressed in his clothes. He crept over to Harry's trunk at the foot of the young wizard's bed, carefully opening it and pulled out the cloak from where it was hidden under all his junk. He muttered an apology, before throwing it over himself and quickly heading out.

He met up with Bakura at the door to the castle, and the both slipped under the cloak as they made a beeline for Hagrid's hut. The giant already had Norbert packed away in a crate (which looked more like a gigantic dog kennel) by the time they arrived.

"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," he explained, carefully handing the crate off to the two of them, who grunted under the weight. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

Atemu sweatdropped as a ripping sound came from the crate. "Yes, really lonely."

"Bye, bye, Norbert!" Hagrid called tearfully as the two of them shambled off. "Mummy will never forget you!"

"Let's go before I gag…" Bakura muttered.

How they managed to drag that heavy crate up and into the school, they would never know. The minutes ticked by slowly as they hauled Norbert up along staircases and down corridors. Even Bakura's short cuts did not make the trip any easier; the dragon was so heavy that after the third staircase, Atemu felt like his arm was going to be pulled out of its socket.

"Almost there…!" Bakura hissed, obviously not fairing much better than him.

A sudden sound made the both of them freeze where they stood. Shadows grappled in the darkness before them, before the tip of a wand came to light, revealing Professor McGonagall in a tartan robe and hairnet dragging Malfoy away by his ear.

"_DETENTION!" _she shrieked. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night; the _insolence…"_

"But professor!" Malfoy exclaimed, flailing. "It's Mutou and Bakura! They've got a dragon!"

"What rubbish!" the professor exclaimed. "I'll be seeing Professor Snape about you!"

The trip up to the tallest tower seemed much easier after that, and soon they were back out in the crisp night air once again. Atemu threw off the cloak after they set Norbert down, looking like he just took his first breath since leaving the Gryffindor common room.

"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"

"Please, spare my ears," Bakura teased… only to end up nursing a reddening hand print on his face, marking where Atemu hit him.

They sat down on the tower railing together, keeping an eye out for Charlie's friends as Norbert thrashed restlessly in his crate. Bakura looked up and around them; damn… star-filled night… perfect air… now all that was needed was flowers and violins and the whole scene could be taken in another way.

Whoa… bad thought.

"Bakura?" Atemu asked suddenly.

He blinked at him in surprise. "What?"

The pharaoh was quiet for a long moment, making Bakura think he had changed his mind, before he finally asked, "What would you have done… if I decided to… pass on?"

He stared at him for a long moment, before looking away. "Nothing; what could I have done? Unless Ryou put on the Ring, I couldn't do squat."

"Mmm…" was Atemu's only reply, making the tomb robber raise an eyebrow.

"What brought this on all of a sudden?" he asked.

Atemu finally turned to him then. "I was thinking… if we had gotten caught, Yuugi and Ryou would be the ones to pay the price, not us. We really are a burden to them, even if we're not trying to be…" He looked down at his hands – Yuugi's hands, really… – quiet for a moment, before he continued, "I… I want to keep living. I want to get my own body, so I can have my own life again… and maybe get to live it this time…"

Bakura blinked at him, before he gave him a rare, soft smile. He reached over with both hands, cupping his face and forcing him to look at him again.

"Atemu… believe me when I say that I can't wait for the time I can use my own hands to hold you like this…" he replied.

The pharaoh bit his lip, a weird feeling in his chest, like his heart skipped several beats. It felt like several more beats as Bakura started leaning closer to him, close to touching…

"Bakura…"

"Pharaoh… I…"

"_OY!"_

The two of them sprang apart and whirled around, spotting several people approaching them on broomsticks. Charlie's friends; _perfect _timing…

They were certainly a cheery bunch, and Bakura _might _have liked them a bit better if they had not interrupted him. They showed him and Atemu the harness they had rigged up to carry Norbert, and the two of them assisted in buckling in the dragon safely. Pretty soon, Charlie's friends were bidding them good-bye, and the dragon was going… going… _gone._

Atemu and Bakura shared a long look between the two of them… before they started back down the tower, able to hold one another's hand now that they did not have a crate between them. No more dragon, Malfoy in detention… the night really could not get any better.

Of course… when things are going good, they tend to go wrong really, really quick, as they found out when they reached the bottom of the stairs. There was Filch, standing there with an amused smirk on his face… and holding a guilty looking Harry by the scruff of his neck.

They had left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower…!

"My, my…" Filch practically purred. "We _are _in trouble…"


	12. The Forbidden Forest

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

Oy! Xx I'm so sorry this took so long; I've recently made up with one of my very good friends of... well, several years now, and I'm finding that I can't really talk and have fun with her and write at the same time. I needed to take a break tonight -- we usually end up staying up to like... 5am Eastern time; not good -- so I made an effort to get this done.

Enjoy the new chapter; the first part of the remake is almost complete.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWELEVE – THE FORBIDDEN FOREST**

It could not have gotten any worse.

Filch marched them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where they sat in silence, waiting for their doom to come for them. Atemu was wringing his hands, not believing their stupidity. How could they forget the cloak; and why in gods name was Harry there on top of it! Bakura was trying to figure out a good excuse for why they had been out and about, but there was no way McGonagall would believe anything they had to say.

When the professor finally came into the room, she looked more likely to breath fire than Norbert had been.

"I would never have believed this of either of you!" she shrieked. "Mr. Filch says you were up in the astronomy tower. It's one o' clock in the morning, _explain yourselves!"_

Atemu actually shrank back, actually looking rather fearful. He looked down at his lap, too afraid to say anything.

"I think I have a good idea of what's been going on," she continued, nostrils flaring. "It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Potter here heard the story and believed it too?"

Harry looked down at his feet, feeling awful…

"I'm disgusted!" she exclaimed. "Four students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Mr. Mutou, I though you had more sense. And you, Mr. Potter; I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All three of you will receive detentions – _nothing _gives you the right to walk around school at night."

The three of them slumped in their seats; just great…

"And seventy-five points will be taken from your houses – for _each _of you."

Atemu felt like the bottom fell out of his stomach. A hundred and fifty points lost in one night! He could hear Yuugi whimper in misery; how his host was ever going to forgive him for this…

-.oOOo.-

There was a line of four large hourglasses in the main hall that led from the dormitories to the Great Hall, and they were used to keep score of the house points that the students received and lost for their respective house. Everyone passed by it every day when they went to breakfast, and they normally did not pay much attention to it. However, it did catch everyone's eyes the following day when they were going to breakfast. Usually, Gryffindor house was neck and neck with Slytherin house, but somehow their points had taken a nosedive, quite literally.

"How did you manage to loose a hundred and fifty points in one night?" Seto asked Malik as they headed to breakfast, frowning.

"No idea," he said, tapping the glass. "Maybe it's a glitch?"

Seto rolled his eyes. "Computers glitch, Ishtar."

"Whatever…" Malik muttered, looking up to see Yuugi coming down the hall. "Oy, Yuugi, do you… eh…?"

Yuugi just walked right by him, looking utterly miserable. Malik and Seto exchanged confused looks… but it did not take them very long to find out what had happened. It was not long before people were snubbing Yuugi, Ryou, and Harry.

Harry had fallen from the hero to the Wizarding world to the traitor of Gryffindor house. No matter where he went, people pointed and did not bother to lower their voices as they insulted him. Even Quidditch was no longer fun; while Wood wanted to keep him around to try and make up those points, the rest of the team snubbed him, and when they had to address him, they only called him "the Seeker".

Yuugi and Ryou were not much better off. No one would talk to them, and Ryou's friends had turned away from him, which made Bakura royally pissed.

A few weeks later, their little group was together at the library, studying for the finals that would be coming in seven weeks time. However, the atmosphere was grim, as Harry, Yuugi, and Ryou had detention that night, along with Malfoy. After about an hour into the study session, Seto closed his book and looked at everyone.

"Look , we're not getting very far here," he stated. "It's Friday and we're on our break anyway. Let's call it a day and go outside."

Hermione was a little reluctant, of course, but majority vote beat her out. They gathered their study supplies and went outside into the warm spring weather. They walked toward the lake, and Malik stretched his arms up toward the sky before wrapping one around Hermione's shoulders, trying to comfort her.

"Aw, cheer up, Hermi-chan," he urged. "I'm sure we'll be able to get those points back. Besides, Atemu and Bakura had a good excuse! They were getting rid of a dragon!"

"Yeah, but we can't tell anybody that, or Hagrid will loose his job," Yuugi replied reluctantly, skipping a rock on the lake. "We didn't _want_ to tell anyone… the less people that knew, the less likely we would get caught."

"Well, at least Malfoy's got detention along with us," Harry said, kneeling down next to him. "Maybe that'll teach him not to strut around like he owns the place."

"Don't count on it," Seto replied sourly, sitting on the grass.

Ron pounded a fist into his open palm, frustrated. "If only we could go to Dumbledore and tell him about what Snape plans to do."

"But we've got no proof!" Ryou exclaimed. "Even if he did believe us, all Snape would have to say is that he was never in the forbidden forest that night, and we're done for! Professor Quirrell's too scared to back us up, and without him, we can't discredit Snape."

Ron jumped at that. "Maybe we could convince him! Maybe if we assure him Dumbledore will protect him, he'll back us up. Or maybe we should do some more poking around—"

Harry shook his head. "No," he stated, "no more three-headed dogs, no more Stones, no more adventures, no more poking around. We've gotten into enough trouble, and Gryffindor has suffered for it."

They were quiet over that… before Seto sighed softly, leaning back.

"I just have one problem about what happened with this dragon," he said.

"Oh? What?" Yuugi asked.

"You didn't let me see it."

Yuugi and Ryou sweatdropped, shaking their heads.

-.oOOo.-

At eleven o' clock at night, Atemu and Harry and Bakura headed down to the entrance hall, where Filch was already waiting, along with Malfoy. He glared at them vehemently, as if him being there was all their fault.

Filch lit a lamp, before leading them outside, looking delighted. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a rule again, eh?" he leered. "Shame they let the old punishments die. I miss the screaming…"

Atemu and Bakura exchanged looks, the former noticeably paling in the bright moonlight. The tomb robber grabbed his hand, holding it as they approached the forbidden forest… as well as Hagrid's house. Even in the darkness, they could make out the faint outline of the giant, and Harry let out a soft breath of relief. Filch sneered at the sound.

"Think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again – it's into the forest you're going tonight."

Malfoy stopped dead.

"Th-the forest?" he stammered. "But… we _can't _go in there. There's… _things _in there. Like werewolves!"

As if to exemplify the point, a wolf howl came from somewhere deep in the forest. Malfoy shrank back in fear as Hagrid approached, Fang at his heels.

"Shoulda thought of that before 'ya did wrong," Filch sneered, before turning to the giant. "I'll be back at dawn… for what's left of them…"

Atemu sweatdropped, turning and watching as the caretaker left. That guy had issues… He turned his attention back to Hagrid after a moment, who was lecturing a rather red faced Malfoy.

"Right then," Hagrid began once the pale boy shut up. "Listen carefully now, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want yeh takin' any unnecessary risks." He nodded back toward the forest. "There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time this week. I found one dead on Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor think. May need ter put it out of it's misery. We're gonna need ter split inter two parties; one o' yeh will go with me, the other with Fang."

"I'm going with Fang!" Malfoy exclaimed immediately.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a ruddy coward," Hagrid cautioned. Fang just yawned lazily.

"Oh, they're perfect together," Bakura sneered, getting Malfoy to turn red again.

Hagrid raised an amused eyebrow at him. "An' am I gonna be able ter separate the two of yeh?"

Atemu blinked, wondering what he was talking about, before he looked down… and realized he was still clasping Bakura's hand. He pulled away quickly, trying to look casual and failing miserably.

"Right," Hagrid replied, sounding amused. "Well, Harry, Yuugi, I'll take you two. Ry'u, try to keep this idiot from doing something stupid."

Malfoy puffed his chest, looking highly insulted, but did not get a chance to retaliate. Hagrid led them to a path dotted with silvery blood that soon forked off in separate directions. Atemu wished Bakura luck as they disappeared down one of the paths, leaving Bakura and Malfoy to go off their own way. The tomb robber grumbled privately at his bad luck, glaring at the younger boy's back. Malfoy's protests were as loud as they possibly could be as they plodded through the forest. Louder… longer… and he just would not shut up.

"I can't believe this," he huffed. "They're making us do _servant _work! Humph… I should make you do this and go somewhere comfo—"

He stuttered to a stop, turning around to see Bakura was not behind him. Fang whined as Malfoy looked around franticly; did… did he leave him? Alone? In the… the… forest? He gulped loudly, shuddering; did it get really cold all of a sudden? Did it get… _darker _all of a sudden? Malfoy shrank back, hugging his arms to his chest, eyes darting back and forth.

"Ryou…?" he called in a soft voice… before he felt a _presence_ behind him… He turned around slowly…

-.oOOo.-

Atemu nearly jumped out of his skin, hearing the blood-curdling scream before the three of them saw the sparks. Hagrid forced him and Harry to hide in the brush, before taking off in the direction of the panicked screams and sparks. The younger wizard bit his lip in worry, looking up to Atemu.

"You don't think that… _thing _we heard before got them…?" he asked. "I mean, I don't care about Malfoy, but Bakura would actually try to fight it…"

The pharaoh worried his lip. They had encountered… _something_ not long after they went their separate ways. It sounded like a cloak slithering over dead leaves, and Atemu had gotten an eerie feeling… the same he felt when he encountered the ghosts in the dead town of Kuru Eruna. Hagrid said it was unnatural… it did not belong in the forest. Not only that, but Harry was right; if something tried to attack him and Malfoy, Bakura would fight back…

…then again…

Atemu sweatdropped. "Actually, I think you should worry about Malfoy."

Harry gave him a strange look, and was about to ask why he would say that, when the rustling of brush announced Hagrid's return. They scrambled back onto the path as the giant emerged, looking rather irate, with a scared Malfoy clinging to him like a lifeline. The young boy was paler than usual, jumping at the least little sound. Bakura followed close behind, a satisfied smug expression on his face.

Harry sweatdropped as well; ah… that's what Atemu meant…

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'," the giant grumbled in annoyance. "Right, then; we're changin' groups. Malfoy'll stay with me an' Yuugi. Harry, you go with Fang an' this idiot. He'll have a harder time frightenin' you."

Atemu gave Bakura a look as Harry went over to him. The tomb robber just smirked and winked, telling Hagrid he should make sure Malfoy did not piss his pants, before heading back quickly with Fang and Harry, cackling the whole way.

"Why'd you have to go and do a thing like that?" Harry asked as they arrived at the other path, following the trail of blood splatters down it.

"You saw how he looked clinging to Hagrid, right?" the tomb robber replied. "Picture that with wider eyes, mouth hanging a bit slack in shock before the scream of terror a split second later, and you have blackmail that will last until we graduate."

Harry rolled his eyes as Bakura started sniggering; although, if Malfoy had looked like that… well, he was sorry he missed it.

They continued on, walking for what felt like hours, the forest becoming thicker and thicker, until the path became impossible to see. However, as the forest grew, so too did the splatters of blood on the ground. Bakura knelt beside a pool of blood, inspecting it and some of the other patches by it.

"I don't think we're going to find a living unicorn," he said. "It's lost way too much blood. And look at the pattern; it was clearly slowing down. Either it was really weak when it came by here, or something was pulling it down. I'm betting on the former."

Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "You know, animals behave differently than humans…"

Bakura gave him a disgruntled look. "When you're dying, you're dying, kid. Human or otherwise, you behave in a similar way."

"I'll take your word on that," Harry replied as they started off again.

Eventually, the trees thinned out into a small clearing… and they saw it. The unicorn lay dead near a rotting log, its legs sticking out at odd angles, lying in a pool of its own blood.

"Damn…" Bakura murmured, going to step into the clearing… before the sound of something slithering over leaves made him stop. They stared, as a shadow seemed to detach itself from the forest, sliding toward the unicorn before dipping down and starting to drink its blood. The tomb robber took a step back, a grossed out look on his face. Harry could only watch in horror… until a terrified whimper from Fang snapped him out of it.

Unfortunately, it also drew the creature's attention to them; it whirled toward them, its front dribbling with silvery blood. Fang yelped, taking off barely a second later as the figure loomed up…

"Stand back!" Bakura ordered, grabbing the Ring, trying to call on its power…

…nothing…

He did not get a chance to wonder why it was not working though. The creature barreled toward him, grabbing him up by the neck. Bakura gagged, struggling to try to pry the iron grip from his neck, before he let a hand drop to his side. A moment later, his knife was out, and plunging into the arm that was holding him up. The creature hissed, tossing him easily against a tree.

"Bakura!" Harry exclaimed as the tomb robber groaned, holding his head and trying to stay conscious. The creature hissed again, looming toward him as Harry ripped his wand out of his robe, and managed to get off a brief burst of sparks before sharp pain suddenly pierced his forehead and the creature rushed him, forcing him to stumble and fall backward blindly.

A moment later, he could hear the sound of hooves galloping toward him, and something leapt clear over him, charging at the monster. Harry held his head, the hissing and horse-like sounds only serving to make the pain feel worse. After a moment, the sounds stopped, and Harry felt Bakura beside him a moment later, checking to see if he was all right.

"The forest is not safe for you, Harry Potter," a voice came, "especially now."

Harry looked up, to see a centaur like the ones he and Hagrid and Atemu had encountered before they heard Malfoy scream. They had been… well; "vague" was a vast understatement. The only thing they had discovered from them that Mars was bright that night.

"Who are you?" Bakura demanded. "What was that thing?"

"I am Firenze," the centaur replied, before he hesitated a moment. "Do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

Bakura raised an eyebrow as Harry answered, "No; we've only ever used the horn and hair in Potions…"

"That is because it is a monstrous thing to slay a unicorn," Firenze explained. "Unicorn blood will keep you alive, even at the edge of death, but at a terrible price; for once the blood touches your lips, you will lead a half life. A cursed life."

"Who'd be that damn desperate?" Bakura demanded. "That… thing?"

"Do you know what is hidden in the school?" the centaur asked in reply. "That which can restore a person's power to their fullest, and grant them long life?"

"The Philosopher's Stone…" Harry replied. "But… who…?"

The centaur made a horse-like sound. "Do you really not know?"

Harry blinked, before his eyes widened. He was about to replied, when the sound of someone crashing through the brush came, Hagrid's voice shouting for them a moment later.

"You're safe now, Harry Potter," Firenze replied, a hoof plodding at the ground. "Good luck, to both of you. The planets have been read wrong before, even by centaurs. I pray this is one of those times."

-.oOOo.-

Harry, Atemu, and Bakura hurried into the castle once Hagrid lead them out of the forest. Malfoy had taken off far ahead of them once they got out of the place; no doubt he was already in his Slytherin dorm room by now, hiding under his bed. They, however, had to head over to Madam Pomfrey; Bakura was holding his head, a nasty gash on the back of his head from where it hit the tree. Atemu was by his side, keeping him steady as they walked.

"But, Harry…" Atemu began. "How can you say that? Our first day here, you said yourself that he died."

"That he disappeared," Harry corrected. "No one knows what happened to him, save Voldemort himself. That was him that attacked us tonight. He was that creature."

They stopped, the young wizard turning toward the two of them. "Before school started this year, Hagrid showed me around Diagon Alley. He told me what he knew of that day… how everyone thought he died, but he didn't believe it. He said there wasn't enough _human _left in him to die!"

"Okay, okay, hold up a sec…" Bakura said, pulling his knife from his belt, stained with the blood of the creature. He sniffed at it, making Atemu sweatdrop.

"What are you doi—?"

"Hush," Bakura replied, sniffing at it again, before he frowned.

"What is it?" Harry asked, as the tomb robber pocketed the knife again. "Am I right?"

"Dunno, but… 'Creature' nothing…" Bakura muttered grimly. "That thing was definitely human."


	13. Through the Trap Door

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

There might be another update sometime today (or tomorrow, depending on what timezone you're in). I'm not exactly in the best of moods today, and working on this is keeping me from any... destructive thoughts.

Lots of changes in this chapter; I hope you enjoy it. I was compairing it in length to the original, and it's already a few pages longer. It might even break 100 pages in Word by the time I'm done.

* * *

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN – THROUGH THE TRAP DOOR**

Yuugi would never know how he had made it through to finals, especially with the thought of an evil dark lord lurking out there somewhere, after a mystical stone that could make said dark lord insanely powerful. On top of that, it was exceptionally hot that June, especially in the room where they had to take their written exams. Hundreds of first year students crammed in one large room, scribbling furiously away on their written exams with their anti-cheating quills, coupled with the fact that they had to wear their black robes despite the heat and you had a group of very hot, very brain fried children.

There were practical exams too, of course. Ryou had quite a bit of fun making a pineapple tap dance across Professor Flitwick's desk. Yuugi managed to come away with the most points in the Transfiguration exam, turning a mouse into a snuffbox that had a similar appearance to the box the Millennium Puzzle had been contained in. Unfortunately, when Malik attempted to do something similar, he was so focused on trying to make it look nice that his still had whiskers.

"At least it doesn't have a tail!" he had protested, but McGonagall still took points off.

He made up for it though in Potions, where he and Ron made a Forgetfulness Potion that, according to Snape, was potent enough to make a full grown adult forget right up to their child years. If Malik had not made a comment about Snape testing it to make sure, they would have come away with the highest marks in the class. Both Seto and Hermione shined in History of Magic, where the two of them zipped through their exams twice over before handing them in long before everyone else was done.

After the exams, the seven of them left the castle and walked about the grounds, basking in the warmth of the sun.

"Thank _god_ that's over!" Ron exclaimed, taking his robe off and slinging it over his shoulder. "That was pure torture!"

"What are you complaining about?" Seto drawled, bored. "That was hardly difficult."

"Speak for yourself…" Ryou grumbled, massaging the side of his head.

"Hey, Harry, you could look a little more cheerful," Malik said, looking over his shoulder at the younger boy. "We've got a whole week before we find out how we did."

Harry shook his head, rubbing his forehead where a thunderbolt shaped scar stared out from under his messy bangs.

"It's not that, Malik," he said, wincing. "It's my scar. It's been hurting often since that time in the forest."

"Maybe you should go to Madam Pomfrey?" Yuugi suggested.

Harry sighed, shaking his head. "No, I… I think it's a warning. A warning about Voldemort."

Ron winced at the mention of the dreaded dark wizard, as the sound of a flute of some kind reached their ears, and they all turned to see Hagrid sitting outside of his hut. He was playing a wooden instrument that he had obviously whittled himself. Harry stared at the giant of a man, his face suddenly lighting up with an idea.

"Oh no…" he muttered.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Don't you think it's rather odd, that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon," Harry began, "and a stranger just happens to show up with one in his pocket?"

Harry took off toward Hagrid, Hermione and Ron running after him. Yugi, Seto, Ryou, and Malik just stared after them, caught off guard, before following. Hagrid looked up as they approached, smiling warmly.

"Hullo; done with yer exams, are yeh?" he asked. "Care for a drink?"

"Yes," Ron said.

"No," Harry corrected a second later. "Hagrid, when you got Norbert… what did the guy look like?"

"Well, I dunno," Hagrid replied. "He never took off his cloak."

Everyone's eyes widened in response.

"What? Yeh get a lot 'o funny folk in the Hog's Head. That's the bar in the village, mind."

"Hagrid, did you ever talk about Hogwarts with him?" Ryou asked, starting to fear where this was going.

"Mighta come up…" Hagrid replied, frowning as he tried to remember. "I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks… Ah, yeah; he said he had a dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted… but he had ter be sure I could handle it. So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy."

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Seto asked grimly.

"Well… yeah; how many three-headed dogs d'yeh see, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece 'o cake once yeh know how to calm him. Jus' play him a bit 'o music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep—"

Hagrid cut himself off, eyes widening. "I shouldn'ta told yet that! Forget I said it! Hey, where're yeh goin'?"

Their group was already taking off, barreling back toward the school as fast as they could. This was bad… no, disastrous.

"We've got to go to Dumbledore," Harry began as they burst through the castle doors. "Where's his office?"

The others shrugged helplessly; none of them had ever even spotted something that could resemble the headmaster's office, not to mention actually go there.

"We just have to—" Yuugi began, before getting cut off.

"What are you doing indoors?" came Professor McGonagall's voice. They turned, seeing her standing behind them with an armful of books.

"We need to see Professor Dumbledore," Ryou said immediately, getting a suspicious look from her.

"The headmaster isn't here," she replied. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and has left for London."

"He's not _here!" _Ron exclaimed.

"Mr. Weasley, Professor Dumbledore is a _very _important man," McGonagall replied, starting to look annoyed. "Now what is so important that you have to see him?"

"Oh, not much," Seto replied dully, waving his hand in mock dismissive manner, throwing caution to the wind. "Just that someone's going to steal the Philosopher's Stone tonight now that the headmaster isn't here."

The others winced at Seto's blunt manner, as McGonagall dropped her books in shock.

"H-how do you…?"

"We know," Harry insisted. "We know that Sn—that someone is going to steal that Stone tonight for Voldemort!"

The professor still looked shock, though the stern look was slowly returning to her face. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but I assure you it's quite well protected. And… and You-Know-Who is gone; you know that better than anyone, Mr. Potter."

"But, professor…!"

"But nothing, Mr. Mutou," McGonagall cut him off. "Now, go outside with the rest of the students and enjoy the sunshine."

They did not go back outside however; they wandered the halls a bit to get away from her, before they stopped, Yuugi speaking up first.

"We need to split up; we _can't _let Snape get anywhere near that Stone!"

"How?" Seto demanded, crossing his arms in his usual stern manner. "If McGonagall sees us again, she's likely to hand out detentions."

"We just can't get caught then," Ryou replied.

_Ra, you're starting to sound like me… _Bakura murmured in his mind, making him blush, and getting a few raised eyebrows.

"Right then," Yuugi began. "Malik, Hermione; you two keep an eye on Snape. He's probably in the staff room right now with the other teachers. You'll have to wait for him there and tail him when he leaves."

"Eh?" Malik asked. "How exactly are we supposed to do that?"

"Easy," Ron replied, grinning, before his voice became high pitched, mimicking Hermione. "'Oh, Professor Flitwick, I think I got question fourteen b wrong…'."

"Oh, shut up," Hermione grumbled as Malik slugged his arm. They started off a moment later as Yuugi turned to the others.

"We'll have to watch the forbidden corridor in shifts," he said, before looking up to Seto. "Kaiba-kun, can you take the first shift? If anyone objects to you being there, you can just use the Rod to make them forget."

Seto did not look to happy at that (or happy about being told what to do), but nodded, starting off for the corridor. Harry bit his lip, before speaking up.

"Someone gave me back the Invisibility Cloak," he said softly. "It was on my pillow when we got back from detention that time. Ron and I could use it to watch the corridor at night."

"And after supper, me and Yuugi-kun can watch it," Ryou said. "We could grab our decks; it'll just look like we decided to duel there."

They broke off then, with Yuugi following Ryou off to the Hufflepuff common room to get his deck (Yuugi always kept his close by out of habit). They were about to turn around a corner when they ran into Professor Quirrell, Ryou bumping into his arm hard. The professor hissed in pain, clutching to it as the white-haired boy quickly bowed, apologizing quickly…

_Something's not right… _Bakura muttered as Ryou came up.

Almost like Yuugi was the one that heard him, he spoke up, eyeing Quirrell's arm. "Something wrong, professor?"

"N-n-no," the professor stuttered, smiling assuredly. "J-j-j-just h-hurt m-myself h-handling an a-animal. Y-you k-kn-know h-how it is, M-M-M-Mr. Mu-Mutou."

Yuugi and Ryou exchanged looks… before Yuugi's hand shot out, grabbing Professor Quirrell's arm and quickly pulling back his robe sleeve…

…to reveal a bloodied bandage…

_Dear Ra, it can't be… _Atemu murmured in his mind as Yuugi looked up at the professor, giving him an accusing look.

"This animal wouldn't happen to have knife-like talons, would it?" he asked.

Quirrell's usual expression – that of someone that looked like they were going to bolt at the least little thing out of place – darkened considerably, his lips twisting up into a bit of a sneer.

"I hate children as perceptive as you are," he snapped, no hint of the stutter in his voice.

His arm snapped up a moment later, throwing Yuugi against a wall before he could react. Ryou reached in his robe to pull out his wand, but Quirrell was faster, and a blast from his wand hit him in the chest, causing him to crumple to the ground. Yuugi struggled to get up, trying to go over to Ryou, but Quirrell was standing above him before he could get the chance, wand pointing down at him.

"I believe you two will make an excellent sacrifice to the dark lord once he's restored to power…" he sneered, before Yuugi's world turned black…

-.oOOo.-

As sound as their plan was, there were of course several hitches. Harry and Ron had gone up to the Gryffindor common room once they had separated. Not long after, Malik and Hermione arrived, the latter looking rather distraught, wringing her hands.

"Sorry, Harry," Malik began. "Snape came out and asked why we were there. We told him we were looking for Flitwick, and he went to get him. We just barely got away."

"I do hope Seto's having better luck…" Hermione murmured.

They did not get to find out how much luck he was having until supper, when he came into the Great Hall looking rather disgruntled. The four of them hurried to talk to him, standing just outside the hall.

"Quirrell caught me outside the forbidden corridor," he grumbled. "I tried to use the Rod, but it didn't work. I had to leave."

"Weird…" Malik murmured, scratching his nose.

"Have you seen Ryou and Yuugi?" Hermione asked, noticing their absence for the rest of the day, but Seto just shook his head.

"This doesn't sound good…" Ron murmured.

Harry bit his lip… before announcing, "We have to go then. Tonight. We have to go and get the Stone before Snape does."

"Oh, yes, that's a sure way to get expelled," Seto replied dryly. "And even still, what we going to do against Snape, hm? We're only in our first year. He's a professor."

"Kaiba's right," Malik said. "We're sorely outmatched."

"We still have to try," Harry murmured. "If we don't, Voldemort's going to come back. He… he killed my parents. I can't let him return without putting up a fight."

-.oOOo.-

Harry, Ron, Malik, and Hermione sat by themselves in the common room that night, waiting for the other students to leave before they could set out on their dangerous mission. Seto promised he would be waiting for them at the entrance to the forbidden corridor, confident he would make it, even if he had to let the high priest take over. Harry was sitting on the Invisibility Cloak, waiting with strained patience… and worried too… for what they were about to do… because Yuugi and Ryou had not come back… worried of the consequences of failing…

Finally, the last of the students went off to bed, allowing them to make their escape out. The four of them slipped out of the common room, making their way along as quickly as they could all crammed under the cloak as they were, Harry leading the way. It did not take them long to find the door that led to the forbidden corridor; it was already ajar and they could hear faint music coming from within.

"Taiko drums…?" Malik asked as they slipped out from under the cloak, pushing the door to the corridor open… to see a sleeping Fluffy, and Seto standing with an open and working laptop. Winamp was up on the screen, playing a music file on repeat.

"Someone finally got their computer back," the Egyptian muttered as Kaiba smirked.

"I finally convinced Flitwick to put the charm on it, seeing as I'm such a good student," he said, looking insufferably prideful, before his expression turned serious. "The door was already opened when I got here. Looks like Snape beat us here."

Malik bit his lip at that, as Ron and Harry went over to the trap door near one of the dog's mouths, grabbing at it and pulling at the ring attached. After a moment, the door came open, much to Ron's apparent relief, as he looked like he was going to gag from the Fluffy's smelly breath. Under the door, however, was nothing but darkness with no ground that they could see.

"I'll go first," Harry announced, sitting down at the lip of the hole before slipping down inside. There was a thud, and he shouted up, "It's all right! There's something soft to land on!"

Ron jumped in next, followed by Hermione. Seto went over last, keeping the laptop open as he approached. As soon as he was close enough, he snapped the computer closed, the music cutting off as the device went into automatic sleep mode, before jumping through the opening. His feet _just_ cleared the lip of it when Fluffy came awake again, snarling angrily. The trap door snapped close as he hit the "soft" landing spot, rolling off onto the hard stone ground.

"We're probably a good mile under the school," Harry observed as Seto stood, trying to get his bearings.

"Lucky this plant thing was here," Malik said as he looked back to them.

"_Lucky?"_ Seto exclaimed. "Look at yourselves!"

Harry looked down, eyes widening as he saw tendrils from the plant had already wrapped around their legs without their noticing, pinning them firmly to the thing. Malik yelped, both him and Ron trying to get away from it, but the harder they struggled, the tighter the hold it seemed to get on them. Hermione shouted at them, ordering them to stay calm.

"This is a Devil's Snare," she informed them.

"And this means _what _to us?" Malik demanded, trying to keep the plant from getting a hold of his neck.

"Devil's Snare likes the dark and damp…" Hermione began, biting her lip as she tried to remember.

"So light a fire! Seto!" Harry gasped, fighting for air as the plant wrapped itself around his chest.

Seto looked around, squashing the small bit of panic threatening his mind. "There's no wood."

"_BAKA MONEY BAGS!" _Malik shouted. "Are you training to be a wizard or not!"

Seto probably would have taken a moment to snap at the Egyptian if they were not going to die if he did not do anything. With a wave of the wand and a murmured incantation, a jet of flames shot out at the Devil's Snare. The plant let out a squeaking sound as it retreated, loosening itself enough for Harry, Ron, Malik, and Hermione to tumble away from it. Malik got to his feet first, glaring at the taller boy.

"'There's no wood'," he mimicked. "I'm telling Mokuba that."

"Shut it, Ishtar," Seto snarled, bristling. It did not help he could hear the high priest in his head, in near tears from laughing.

"Guys, enough," Harry said, brushing himself off. "We've got to keep moving; no telling how far ahead Snape could be…"


	14. Tears of Gold

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

Once I started on this chapter, I couldn't help but stay up all night to finish it. I'm definately proud of it, and I hope everyone likes it. Last chapter coming after this; this actually took less time to rewrite than I thought it would. Scary. O.o

Enjoy.

* * *

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN – TEARS OF GOLD**

Yuugi moaned softly as he awoke, his head pounding so hard that he could hear a throbbing sound in his ears. He forced his eyes to focus, seeing that he was sitting down on a cold stone floor, tied up with his hands pulled behind him, leaning against something warm that was wriggling slightly. Before him was what looked like the back of a mirror, and he could see a bit of Quirrell's purple robes underneath.

"You awake, kid…?" came Bakura's voice softly. Yuugi peered back to see it was the tomb robber he was leaning against, tied up in a similar manner he was. "You okay?"

Yuugi nodded. "More or less. You?"

"I'll live," he replied. "You might want to switch places with the pharaoh. It's probably going to get dangerous from here on out."

Yuugi pursed his lips, but nodded in agreement, switching places with Atemu a moment later. The pharaoh actually looked worried as he turned back to Bakura. He bit his lip, before nuzzling against the smaller boy as best he could.

"Don't worry…" he murmured. "I'll protect you, Atemu…"

The pharaoh turned a bit pink, a warm feeling spreading through his chest. Before he could say anything, though, Quirrell swore loudly, coming toward them.

"Good evening, gentlemen," he sneered… before grabbing Atemu by his hair, dragging him to the front of the mirror. Bakura cursed, almost loosing his balance.

"What are you doing, you bastard!" he demanded.

Quirrell ignored him, however; shoving Atemu before the mirror. "What do you see? What does it show you?"

The pharaoh was about to ask if he was crazy… when he noticed that it was not just him reflected in the mirror. Yuugi was kneeling beside him, looking worried about what Quirrell was doing. Atemu stared, before glancing to where his outer self was supposed to be… only to see empty air. He was just in the mirror, and if the way Quirrell was looking was any indication, he could not see him either. This mirror… did it show the future? Or…

His eyes widened slightly. Of course… it showed a person's desire… what they really, truly wanted in life; and if the way Quirrell was carrying on, the Philosopher's Stone must have been _inside _the mirror!

"Tell me what you see!" Quirrell demanded. Atemu glared up at him defiantly.

"I see you rotting in the belly of Ammit!"

The professor did not look happy in the least. He grabbed Atemu, tossing him to the side as he pulled his wand from his robes.

Atemu did not hear the incantation he used, but he doubt he would have recognized it even if he did. Pain filled his entire being… pain so excruciating… He writhed, crying out in agony, unable to even hear his own screams over the buzz that seemed to fill his mind. As suddenly as it began, though, it stopped, leaving the pharaoh gasping for breath, head lolling to the side…

Harry had just arrived…

-.oOOo.-

After seeing the traps the professors had prepared to protect the Philosopher's Stone, Harry definitely had more respect for his teachers. There had been a room filled with flying keys, where he had to take a broom and capture the one that would open the door forward. There had been a troll, but fortunately it had already been knocked out before they got there. Beyond that was a giant chessboard, where Seto and Ron had directed them and the rest of the pieces in what had to be the biggest game of chess known to man. The last room was a game of logic – Snape's logic – where they had to drink one of two potions to either go back or go forward through a ring of magic flames; something Hermione had solved almost easily.

Their progress had not come easily, however. In the game of chess, Ron had to sacrifice himself, ending up hurt badly by the opposing Queen in order for Harry to checkmate the King. In the potion room, there had only been enough of the potion to go forward for one person. Harry… he had to go forward, leaving Hermione, Malik, and Seto to go back, promising to take Ron to the hospital wing and send off a letter to Dumbledore immediately.

After they left, Harry had bravely stepped forward, into the final room. What he saw, though, he had not exactly counted on: Professor Quirrell, somehow torturing Atemu. He had stopped when he burst through the door, smirking at him as Atemu lay gasping in pain.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," Quirrell began. "So nice of you to join us."

"Y…you… but… but Snape…!" was all Harry could manage. He could not believe this…

"Yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he?" Quirrell replied, stepping toward him. "It made things _so _much easier for me with him swooping about the school like an overgrown bat."

Harry shook his head, trying to absorb all of this. "But… at the first Quidditch match… he tried to kill me!"

"Oh no, Mr. Potter. _I _tried to kill you," Quirrell informed him as Bakura crept out from behind the Mirror of Erised, shrugging off ropes as he made his way to where Atemu had grown quiet. "I would have succeeded if Snape hadn't been muttering that damnable counter-curse, not to mention getting knocked over by Ms. Granger when she went to set Severus' robes on fire."

The thought that Snape had actually tried to save him made Harry's eyes widen in shock. He shifted his gaze to just over Quirrell's shoulder, spotting Bakura helping Atemu as far away from them as he could. Harry bit his lip; he had to give them time… had to give the pharaoh time to recover…

While Harry kept Quirrell distracted, Bakura set Atemu down in a corner of the room, carefully removing the ropes that bound him. Gods, hearing the pharaoh scream like that… seeing him in such pain… Bakura would never say it aloud, but that had scared him so much… The pharaoh looked back at him once the ropes were off, eyes still showing a bit of pain.

"Bakura…" he murmured, voice slightly hoarse from screaming.

"Shh…" Bakura replied soothingly, smoothing his hair a bit. "It's okay… I won't let him hurt you like that again… Just stay here… stay safe."

Atemu bit his lip, but nodded, just as there came the sound of a struggle, and Bakura looked to see Quirrell drag Harry in front of the mirror. He frowned before crouching… waiting…

"Tell me what you see," Quirrell hissed threateningly.

Harry gulped, only able to see himself, scared and shaking, in the mirror at the moment. Another moment passed before the him in the mirror winked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a blood-red stone. Harry stared as the other him winked again, before dropping the stone back in his pocket… and suddenly, he felt a weight in his own pocket, as if there were something inside… Quirrell had not noticed it thankfully, but somehow, miraculously, he had obtained the Philosopher's Stone!

"Well?" Quirrell demanded. "Tell me what you see!"

"I… I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore. I've won the house cup!"

It was such a horrible lie, that even Bakura winced. Quirrell did not seem to notice though, as he tossed Harry aside and returned his attention to the mirror, ignoring them completely. As soon as he was sure the professor was not paying him any heed, Harry went to go for Bakura and Atemu, hoping they could escape while they had the chance…

_He lies… He lies…_

Harry nearly froze at the detached voice… the same voice that had told Quirrell to put him before the mirror…

Quirrell whirled around. "Potter!"

Bakura sprang up, rushing the back of the mirror and ramming into it as hard as he could. The mirror teetered, before falling forward, right on top of Quirrell.

"_Run Harry!" _he bellowed.

The young wizard managed to run a few steps toward the door before the mirror and Bakura flew away from Quirrell. There was a shattering sound when the mirror hit the wall, followed by a thump as the tomb robber hit another. He slumped down to the floor, shaking his head as stars swam before his eyes. Quirrell got to his feet, looking enraged…

_Let me speak… face-to-face…_

Quirrell froze, face paling at the voice's request. "Master, you are not strong enough!"

_I have strength… for this…_

Quirrell turned away from Harry as he reached up for his purple turban. The young wizard stood there, transfixed, a look of abject horror on his face as the professor removed the cloth layer by layer until what was underneath was slowly revealed. Under it, the professor was completely bald, what hair that was supposed to be there replaced with a deathly pale face, with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils. It twisted about, as if it were not really attached to the back of Quirrell's head, but instead was hovering formlessly just before it.

Voldemort…

"Harry Potter…" the face sneered. Harry tried to take a step back, but he was so horrified, it was doubtful he could even speak, not to mention move. "You see what I have become, Potter? Mere shadow and vapor… only able to survive with a living host. Unicorn blood has been able to sustain me, but once I have the Elixir of Life, I can again have my own body… Now, be a gentleman and give me the Stone in your pocket."

Harry finally took a step back that time, nearly tripping over a set of stairs behind him. Voldemort smirked.

"Don't be a fool, Potter," he said. "Better to save yourself and your friends by joining me, or you'll meet the same sticky end as your precious parents. They died begging me for mercy."

"You _liar!"_ Harry declared, finally finding his voice.

"Monster!" Atemu shouted, as Harry went to make a break for it again. "Leave Harry alone!"

"_Seize him!"_

Quirrell spun around and lunged for Harry, grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt, tossing him back to where the mirror once stood. Before the shorter boy could do anything, Quirrell had jumped on top of Harry and had his hands around his neck, choking the life out of him.

"_Harry!" _Atemu shouted, struggling to get to his feet so he could help his friend, but he need not to have done so. Quirrell let out a cry of pain, pulling his hands away from Harry's neck. They were blistering and red, as if he had stuck them into a fire.

"It burns!" he shouted. "Master, his skin is like fire!"

"Then kill him and be done with it!" Voldemort shouted back.

Quirrell opened his mouth to cast a powerful hex on the young wizard, when Harry suddenly lunged upward and grabbed a hold of his face. The professor's whole face started burning at the touch, and even Voldemort screamed in pain. Harry held on, scar screaming in blinding pain as Voldemort screamed, not letting go until it became unbearable. He fell back, passing out as Quirrell backed away from him, his body burning away until the only thing that was left was his robes and the formless spirit of the dark wizard.

Atemu hurried over to Harry, checking to see if he was all right as the spirit soared up toward the ceiling, letting out a hissing moan of rage, before swinging around…

Bakura's eyes widened in terror… _"ATEMU!"_

Atemu turned around in surprise… barely having any time to react as Voldemort's spirit to slip inside the Millennium Puzzle. He let out a cry of surprise and pain, bending over and holding his stomach like he was going to be sick. The Puzzle flashed erratically, clearly trying to protect its owner from the vastly dangerous spirit… but even from where he was, Bakura could see that it was actually too much for it… He could only watch as it started blinking faster… stress cracks starting to appear in the pieces…

_No…!_

Voldemort emerged from Atemu's back as, with a deafening _SNAP, _the Puzzle shattered into thousands of pieces, the dust and fragments slowly drifting to the ground like golden tears…

A moment later, a solid Yuugi felt to his knees, face screwed up in pain, before falling over unconscious… and leaving a nearly transparent Atemu barely standing. The spirit stumbled back, looking like he was in agony… horrible, horrible agony… before he finally fell back onto the floor, twitching as he faded in and out, before finally stilling…

Bakura did not even realized he screamed until he stopped, his chest aching, a tear unrealized running down his cheek. No… no… gods, no! Why! Why did they torture him like this? Why did they delight in tormenting him!

"Bastard…!" he snarled at Voldemort swirled up into the air, hovering about like a vulture. The tomb robber hurried over to where some glass from the mirror littered the floor; the Ring had the power to place a part or all of a soul in another object. He was going to give that monster what he deserved…

"You Ra-be-damned coward! Come down here and face me like a man!"

Voldemort laughed at him, as if he were too happy to grant that request. He swung down from the ceiling so fast that even the tomb robber had to dodge out of the way, and then he just barely made it. Bakura jumped back to his feet, taunting Voldemort again, calling on the Ring's power…

…nothing… again…!

"Shit…!" he muttered, ducking out of the way again. Now what was he supposed to do…?

-.oOOo.-

Darkness… nothing but total and complete darkness… By all means, after surviving three thousand years in it, he should have been used to the dark… but this… this darkness was different. He was alone, floating in the dark… a darkness that was infinite… everlasting… silent… and final.

_I'm going to die…_

Were it before he had started attending Hogwarts, Atemu would have welcomed that thought… Now, however, it filled him with dread. He did not want it… he did not want to leave what he had. He cherished it, wanted to hold onto it as long as he possibly could. It was his… his life… his friends… his feelings… The people waiting for him in death would probably scold him for wanting to cling to such things… hell, his previous self as pharaoh would be insulted by it…

So, what had changed…?

"_I dunno, maybe so you can have your own _life!_ You know, it's only a matter of time before that runt doesn't need you any more, before you start becoming a burden to him. And then what are you going to do? What am…"_

Bakura… Bakura's words from that time… he thought he had been angry at him… but…

"_What am I going to do…?"_

Words unsaid… words that wanted to be said, but could not…

_Bakura… _Atemu thought… said… whatever passed for speech in this place. _I want to live… I want to live…!_

_Why?_

Atemu paused at the new voice, frowning as he tried to find the owner in the darkness, though he could not move much as he hung limply in nothingness.

_Why do you wish to live? You are meant to die._

The pharaoh curled a hand into a fist. _But I've been alive for so long. I want to live still._

_If you've lived for so long, is it not time for you to rest? _the voice replied.

_I've lived… but I haven't really _lived, Atemu replied. _My life… I sacrificed myself to stop evil, because I thought my life was less important than the lives of my people. I didn't… I didn't realize that I had so much to loose…_

The voice was relentless. _But in loosing that, you gained more. What is to say that death will not bring you even more?_

Atemu blinked slowly, a tear slipping from an eye. _Because… what I have now is too precious to loose… I have Yuugi… and Harry, and everyone… and Bakura… Bakura… I _can't _afford to leave that behind… I can't afford to die on them… I don't care what possibilities I might gain this time…_

_What you have is too precious…_

_Yes._

The voice was silent for a long time, and Atemu was beginning to think it had left… when he felt warmth in his chest, similar to what he felt before… He clasped his hands over it, closing his eyes as the feeling overwhelmed him, filling him with peace…

_Humans… you are such frail creatures… letting your emotions and your hearts guide you through life… And yet, you also manage to achieve small miracles this way. Humans like yourself especially… ones that have faith in others, and give that faith and strength to those around you. It is a small wonder why we call you our son…_

Atemu frowned slightly at that, slowly opening his eyes again. The warmth in his chest had turned to light, illuminating the black underbelly he was lying on… and the serpentine, double-mouthed face looming above him…

_Osiris… _he murmured, awed.

The dragon nodded. _You are brave, our child… You have suffered much, yet you want to continue, even if it will bring you more pain. You've learned that sacrifice is not always the right choice, even if it will bring an end to evil. Learn from that… grow even stronger than you are now…_

-.oOOo.-

Slowly, a tentative breath… then a soft gasp as air filled lungs again… Slowly, painfully, eyes opened, blinking slowly in an effort to fight back dizziness… Then, feeling; the stone at his back, a bit of a weight on his chest…

Atemu looked down once he managed to get the room to stop spinning. There was the Millennium Puzzle on his chest… but it was split neatly in half, a part of the Eye on it sticking out slightly before that too was cut off. He frowned, moving his head painfully, to see the other half a bit of a distance away… near…

His eyes widened… it… it could not be…

A cry of pain brought his thoughts back to the present; that was Bakura that cried out… Voldemort still must be around…

Shakily, he rolled over onto his side, spotting Bakura where he had fallen on the ground, struggling to get back to his feet. Voldemort was trying to wear him down… trying to make him weaker…

He wanted another host…

Atemu was _not _going to allow that.

Painfully, he got to his feet, trying to ignore the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm him and send him back into darkness…

"Voldemort! You're not finished with _me_ yet!"

The spirit of the dark wizard hissed at the sudden interruption, slithering up into the air again, hovering above Atemu as Bakura turned, feeling his heart soar. Atemu… Atemu was alive… he was okay… but… the Puzzle…? He was only wearing _half _of it? He frowned at that, looking around for the other half… before spotting it on the ground…

…next to Yuugi's outstretched hand.

Bakura's eyes widened in shock, while Atemu kept his eyes above, watching Voldemort like a hawk. He focused on his power as he waited for the dark wizard to make his move, feeling it come to him so much easier than it did when he shared a body with his other half. It was natural, so natural… like breathing…

The spirit suddenly dived, and Atemu calmly closed his eyes, raising a hand…

"_MIND CRUSH!"_

Colors seemed to invert for a moment as the Puzzle's power to drive away evil hit Voldemort dead on. The wizard screamed in agonizing pain, like it was being ripped apart bit by bit…

By the time color in the room returned to normal, the dark wizard was just a wispy bit of darkness, slowly fading… fading… fading… until there was nothing left, like the spirit had not even existed in the first place. Atemu let out a sigh of relief… before falling to his knees, still not feeling well and not exhausted on top of it. Bakura was by his side a moment later, bracing him gently.

"Shh… it's okay, pharaoh… you're okay…" he murmured. Atemu smiled softly, resting against him heavily.

"Harry…?"

"He'll be all right," Bakura replied. "He's just unconscious."

"Yuugi…?"

Bakura looked up, still unable to believe that they were separate…

"The same," he answered finally.

Atemu sighed softly. "Good…" he murmured, drifting back into unconsciousness.

Bakura stared down at him for a long moment, still not believing it. He ran a hand through the pharaoh's hair, touched his face, and pressed a hand against his chest, feeling his heartbeat. There was no denying it…

"Gods…" he murmured as the door behind him opened, admitting Professor Dumbledore, with their friends trailing behind him, "thank you… thank you so much…"


	15. Parting Company for the Summer

**Yuugiou!  
Episode Nine and Three Quarters**

Gha; propbably hates me right now. I had to run out of the house just as this started uploading, and left the website to idle. Gomen, gomen! X.x

Anyway; here it is! The final chapter of the fic. I hope everyone had been enjoying the rewrite so far (though from the reviews, a lot of you are). I hope to have the first chapter of _A New Generation of Priests Special Edition _out before the start of next week.

* * *

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN – PARTING COMPANY FOR THE SUMMER**

Something warm and bright was shining in his eyes, making him try to lift a hand to swat at it. There was a twittering sound too, like birds outside, but with the way his head was pounding, they could have been right next to his ear for all he knew. He moaned softly, eyes fluttering open, squinting against the light shining down on him. Dizziness overcame Atemu almost immediately, and he shut his eyes once more, wishing his head would stop hurting. His movements obviously caught someone's attention, as he felt a slight weight at the foot of the bed he was in. He waited a moment before opening his eyes again, to see a patched up Bakura smirking down at him.

"Rise and shine, your worship," he said. "I think you've had enough beauty sleep."

Atemu snorted, rolling his eyes as Bakura leaned forward, taking some chocolate from a nearby bed stand and handing it to him.

"Here, eat that," he said as the pharaoh raised an eyebrow. "It'll make you feel better."

Atemu gave him a disbelieving look. "It's chocolate."

"You're complaining?"

Atemu rolled his eyes again, munching on the dark chocolate slowly, eventually pushing himself up as he got his strength back. Bakura, meanwhile, reached over to a massive pile of candies by the side of his bed, snatching a chocolate frog and munching on it.

"Where…?" Atemu began, sweatdropping at the pile.

"Impressive, eh?" Bakura replied. "Must be half a candy shop there. Harry got the other half."

Atemu looked around, noting that neither Yuugi nor Harry were in the hospital wing. "Where is he?" he asked. "And… Yuugi…?"

"Yuugi was practically in and out of here," Bakura replied. "He was shocked as all hell, but he was okay. Harry just woke up and left recently."

Atemu nodded slowly, before biting his lip. "And… what happened…?"

"You mean… with the Stone and everything…?" he asked, before continuing when the pharaoh nodded. "Well, Dumbledore had it destroyed. He knew that something would be after the Stone, whether it be Voldemort himself or one of his followers. That's why it got moved here in the first place."

"So… he knew Voldemort was alive…" Atemu said slowly. "That's why he had us come here…"

"Probably; he didn't say as much when he was here," Bakura replied, reaching over and caressing the side of his face. Atemu turned a bit pink and the gesture.

"S-so… everyone knows now, hm?" he asked.

"Well, as Dumbledore put it, what happened between us and Quirrell is totally secret… which means, the whole school knows about it by now," the tomb robber answered. "It has been three days since then. Besides, as Ron put it, it's kind of noticeable having Yuugi attending classes and unconscious in the hospital wing at the same time."

Atemu looked down at his hands, flexing them. "I can't believe this is real…"

Bakura shuffled a bit closer to him, cupping his face gently with both hands. Atemu let his eyes slip closed at the feeling… his touch… Bakura's touch… It was so very real… He let out a soft, content sigh.

"Atemu…" Bakura murmured, coming closer to him. "I… I thought you died…"

"I thought I did too…" he replied softly. "I… I didn't want to… I was afraid I would never see you… any of you again…"

The tomb robber nuzzled him gently, so close to him he could feel his heartbeat… finally, he was going to get their moment… finally…

"_AHEM!"_

Bakura bit back a growl of irritation; Ra dammit all, if he did not get a chance to get a kiss out of the pharaoh, he was going to have to kill someone…! He turned around, glaring as a huffy Madam Pomfrey approached the bed.

"May I attend to my patient, please," she said in an annoyed voice. Bakura bit back another annoyed growl, getting up off the bed and allowing himself to be shooed away. He glanced back before he left the room, catching Atemu looking up, smiling at him softly…

The tomb robber ended up walking away with a bit of a spring in his step. He would get his chance…

-.oOOo.-

Malik was stretched out under a tree, some parchment on his lap, with Harry's owl, Hedwig, hooting softly beside him. He dipped his quill into an inkwell, writing out a letter to his sister, letting her know that he would be coming home soon as well as writing as much as he could about what happened.

The pharaoh and his host split… literally. It was no secret to him that the spirits had been looking for a way to part from their outer selves, but the way it happened… Was Atemu's new body tainted with Voldemort's darkness? What would happen in that case? Could… could Voldemort use him at all…? He paused at the thought, making a face. What could they do if that was the case? Would they have to fight Atemu…?

He shook his head, trying not to think about it; and was about to write more, when someone tossed something at him, nearly making him blot the ink. Malik caught the offending object and was about to snap at whoever threw it, when he realized exactly what it was he was holding.

The Millennium Ring!

He looked up in surprise, spotting the person who threw it. Bakura stood not all that far away from him, his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, a bit of an amused look on his face.

"Take it," he said. "I don't want it anymore."

Malik stared at him as if he grew another head.

"There's no catch," the tomb robber continued, walking closer until he was standing just above him. "The Ring has the power to transfer one's soul into something else, so I've taken up permanent residence in my host. You needn't worry about any after effects from me."

Malik stared at him for a good moment, before saying, "Okay, here's a good question: _why!"_

Bakura smirked, putting his hands on his hips. "The damned thing almost got me killed down in that chamber because it wouldn't respond to me. I think it's mad at me; 'ya know, for not being a good little boy. Besides, it probably misses its original owner. You're close enough to that priest that it'll probably work for you."

Malik frowned in thought. "Which priest was that?"

The tomb robber waved a dismissive hand. "The one that's sleeping in Yuugi's deck right now," he answered vaguely, turning to head back into the castle. "S'cuse me, I gotta go terrorize Ryou's friends. They're being rather buddy, buddy with him, now that everyone knows about me and the pharaoh."

With that, he started off toward the school, leaving a very confused Malik in his wake. He shook his head before looking down at the Millennium Ring in his hand, hardly believing that the _tomb robber_ actually _willingly_ gave it away. After a moment, he slipped the leather strap that held the Ring over his head and letting it dangle around his neck. It felt good there, almost as if it belonged… He fingered the points a bit, before turning his attention back to his letter.

-.oOOo.-

The Great Hall was decked out in drapes of the green and silver house colors of Slytherin, with one large drape behind the professors' table showing off the house's mascot – a snake – much to everyone else's disappointment. Yuugi and the others sat down in their respective seats, trying to ignore Malfoy as he looked at them with a sickening smirk on his face.

Atemu did not join them until later, held up by a fussy Madam Pomfrey who would not let him go without one last checkup. He approached the Gryffindor table, uncomfortable with all the stares he was getting. He managed to slip into a seat beside his former host, before the whole hall fell into a hushed silence as Dumbledore stood up at the professors' table to make a speech.

"Another year gone!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "Now, I see the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Gryffindor with three hundred and twelve points. In third, Hufflepuff with three hundred and fifty-two. Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six; and in first place is Slytherin with four hundred and seventy-two."

The Slytherins broke out into cheers and stamping, though they were the only ones. Anyone else that made any noise was just giving them polite (and strained) applause. Harry could not even look at Malfoy; the look on his face was just insufferable.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin, well done," Dumbledore called over the noise. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The cheers slowly died, some of the smiles on Slytherin faces dieing slowly. The headmaster cleared his throat.

"Yes… I have some last minute points to award," he began. "First, to Mr. Ronald Weasley—"

Ron turned as red as his hair, trying to hide his face.

"—for the best played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Cheers from the Gryffindor table seemed to shake the bewitched ceiling above, the stars quivering. Percy could be heard telling the other prefects that it was _his favorite _brother that had beaten McGonagall's giant chess set. It was a moment before Dumbledore could continue again.

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."

Hermione buried her face in her arms, and Harry suspected she had burst into tears. Malik laughed happily hugging her tight as Gryffindors up and down the table were ecstatic; they were up a hundred points!

"Third, to Mr. Harry Potter…" Dumbledore continued, the hall falling deathly quiet… "For pure nerve and outstanding courage… I award Gryffindor house sixty points."

The result was deafening; those that could add up while shouting themselves hoarse realized that Gryffindor was now tied with Slytherin. Yuugi was clinging to Atemu's arm tightly; they had tied for the house cup… how exactly was that supposed to play out…?

Dumbledore raised a hand, the room gradually falling into uneasy silence…

"Finally… there are all kinds of courage…" he continued. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, especially when that foe is death itself. So… for a student both new and old… I award ten points… to Mr. Atemu Mutou."

The resulting explosion of cheers, shouts, and applause from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor nearly made Atemu go deaf. He sat in his seat, shocked, as people started congratulating him and pounding him on the back. Yuugi clung to him, crying in absolute joy, congratulating his other half over and over again. They had overshot Slytherin! They had _won. _The pharaoh closed his eyes, a happy sigh escaping from him, especially when he caught sight of Malfoy, who was near pure white from shock.

"Which means," Dumbledore shouted over the applause, "we need a change of decoration!"

With a clap of his hands, the green turned to red and the silver to gold. The giant banner of the Slytherin snake slowly morphed into the Gryffindor lion, towering proudly over the professor's table. Professor Snape was shaking McGonagall's hand, a very fake, forced smile on his face. Harry knew that the Potion's Master was going to be difficult to be near, but he did not care.

This was the best evening of their lives; better than winning at Quidditch, or Christmas, or knocking out mountain trolls… this was a night they would never, ever forget…

-.oOOo.-

With the excitement over winning the house cup, Yuugi and the others nearly forgot that they still had exam results to look forward too. To their surprise, Harry and Ron did much better than they thought they would. Hermione and Seto, of course, got the best marks out of the first years, overshooting the majority of their peers. Even Ryou did well, despite the fact that Bakura was typically around more than he was.

"I was studying in my mind," he insisted as they looked over their scores, getting a chuckle out of Atemu.

As far as the pharaoh was concerned, he had been taken aside by Dumbledore a few days before they were to leave for home, and given a test to see if he would be able to go on to second year himself. There was a small problem with a practical exam, as Yuugi's wand would not work for him, but he passed the written exam easily.

"Looks like I'll be joining all of you next year," he said happily, his former host practically glomping him when he got his scores.

Before long, their wardrobes were emptied and their suitcases were packed, and they were taking the first years were taking the boats back to the train platform. They returned to the Hogwarts Express, their little group sharing a large compartment, talking and laughing as they ate Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and chocolate frogs; and letting out shouts of triumph or groans of defeat as they played Duel Monsters. Outside, the scenery sped past, going from rolling green hills to muggle towns in the blink of an eye. Before long, they were pulling off their wizard robes, swapping them for jackets and stuffing them away to be used next year as the train came to a slow halt at platform nine and three quarters at King's Cross Station.

They filed out of the train, though they could not all rush through the barrier onto the "normal" platforms; they did not want to be all popping out at once and scaring all the Muggles that would be there after all!

"You've got to come over this summer," Ron insisted as they stood in line, waiting their turn, "all of you. I'll send an owl."

Some people jostled them as they moved toward the barrier. Still others called after them:

"Bye, Harry!"

"See you, Potter!"

"Still famous, eh, Harry?" Malik asked, a grin on his face.

"Not where I'm going, I assure you," Harry insisted.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron went though the barrier first, then Seto, Yuugi, and Malik followed soon after, before Atemu and Bakura went through last. As soon as they emerged, they heard a little girl squeal in excitement.

"Look, Mum, there he is, look!"

They turned to see Ginny Weasley, the youngest of the Weasley clan, pointing and tugging on her mother's sleeve excitedly. She was not pointing at her brother, however…

"Harry Potter!" she exclaimed. "Mum, look—!"

"Stop it, Ginny, it's rude to point," the roly-poly woman scolded as they approached. "Busy year, dears?" she asked them.

"Very," Harry answered.

Malik bowed respectfully. "Thank you for the Christmas sweaters, ma'am."

"Oh, it's no problem, dear."

Yuugi was about to add his thanks as well, when a familiar voice rang out from the crowd.

"Onii-sama!"

Yuugi never thought he would ever get the chance to see someone as tall as Seto Kaiba knocked off his feet, but the flying streak of black hair and yellow and blue clothes that tackled him gave him that opportunity. Seto landed with a _thump, _just barely catching his younger brother as he jumped on him, giving him a tight hug around his neck and nearly strangling him.

"I missed you so much, Onii-sama!" Mokuba exclaimed. Seto sweatdropped, patting him on the head.

"Yes, Mokuba, yes," he assured him. "I'm back for the summer."

Mokuba pouted. "Only the summer?"

Seto gave him a blank look, getting a laugh out of his younger brother as more surprise visitors came up to them. Malik took Hermione's hand and hurried over to where Ishizu and Rishid were approaching them almost immediately, giving his sister a warm hug before introducing the young witch excitedly.

"Oy, oy, Yuugi-kun!" Katsuya Jounouchi exclaimed, running up to him along with Sugoroku… before he stopped dead. "Uhh… Yuugi… are my eyes busted…?"

Atemu chuckled in amusement, Bakura raising an eyebrow as he "casually" rested an arm on the pharaoh's shoulder.

"You got a problem, mutt?" he sneered.

Jou growled. "And… why did you have to come back?"

Atemu sweatdropped as Bakura smirked, holding him tighter. "I'm too sexy to stay away."

The pharaoh hid his face as Sugoroku Mutou looked between him and Yuugi, before he sighed. "I just hope you know how to explain yourself to Yuugi's mother…"

Yuugi was about to reply, when a rude, sharp voice cut him off.

"Ready, are you?"

They all turned to see a large, mustached, purple-faced man, scowling down at Harry. Behind him was a thin woman with too much makeup and jewelry and an unhealthily pudgy boy, both of them looking at all of them with terrified expressions. Yuugi gulped; he remembered Harry telling him about these people: the younger wizard's Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley.

"You must be Harry's family!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed.

"In a matter of speaking," Vernon replied coldly before turning back to Harry. "Hurry up, boy. We haven't got all day."

He walked off, but Harry hung back a bit, getting in a last word with his friends.

"See you over the summer, then," he said to Ron.

"Hope you have a… good holiday," Hermione replied uncertainly, watching Vernon's retreating back and wondering how anyone could be so rude.

A smile broke out on Harry's face, however. "Oh, don't worry, I will," he assured them. _"They _don't know I can't use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer."

With that, he took off after his uncle. Yuugi jumped up, waving after him, shouting, "Bye Harry!"

Harry turned as he ran, waving back. "Bye, Yuugi!" he shouted back. "See you at school next year!"

Yuugi smiled, turning to share it with his other half. School next year… he would never admit being more excited about going back to school. The summer could not go by fast enough; he could not wait to go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!


End file.
